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SLAVERY 

IN THE 

UNITED STATES: 

A NARRATIVE 

OF THE 

LIFE AND ADVENTURES 

OP 

CHARLES BALL, 

A BLACK MAN. 

WHO LIVED FORTY YEARS IN MARYLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA AND 
GEORGIA, AS A SLAVE, UNDER VARIOUS MASTERS, AND WAS ONE 
YEAR IN THE NAVY WITH COMMODORE BARNEY, DURING THE 
LATE WAR. CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OP THE MANNERS AND 

USAGES OP THE PLANTERS AND SLAVEHOLDERS OF THE SOUTH 

A DESCRIPTION OP THE CONDITION AND TREATMENT OF THE 
SLAVES, WITH OBSERVATIONS UPON THE STATE OP MORALS 

^ AMONGST THE COTTON PLANTERS, AND THE PERILS AND SUF- 
FERINGS OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE, WHO TWICE ESCAPED FROM 
THE COTTON COUNTRY. 



NE w-Yo rk: 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN S. TAYLOR, 

Brick Church Chapel. 

1837. 



Ea44 
• 6 \g2 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837, 

Bt JOHN S. TAYLOR, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Soutliern 

DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK. 



HENRY LUDWIQ, PRINTER. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In giving a place in the Cabinet of Freedom 
to the ensuing narrative, it is deemed proper to ac- 
company it with some remarks. Tiie reader will 
be desirous to know how far it, is entitled to his be- 
lief, and the editors of the Cal)inet are equally desi- 
rous that he should not be misled. They have been 
furnished with the following certificate : 

"L.-wistown, Pa., July ISlh, 1S30. 

''We, the undersigned, certify that we have read 
the book called ' Charles Ball" — that we know 
the black man whose narra ive is given in this book, 
and have heard him relate the principal matters con- 
tained in the book concerning himself, long before 

the book was published. 

"David W. Holings. 
"W. P. Elliott."* 

This certificate establishes the fact, that the sub- 
ject of the narrative is not a fictitious personage. 
Mr. Fisher, (the author) intimates in his preface, 
what is, indeed, sufficiently obvious from the felicity 
of his style, that the language of the book is not 

* Mr. Elliott is a justice of the peace, and editor of the Lewis- 
town Gazette. Mr. Holings is a lawyer, and formerly a mennber 
of the Pennsylvania Legislature. 
1 



U INTRODUCTION. 

that of the unlettered slave, whose adventures he re- 
cords. A similar intimation might with equal pro- 
priety have been given, in reference to the various 
profound and interesting reflections interspersed 
throughout the work. The author states, in a pri- 
vate communication, that many of the anecdotes in 
the book illustrative of soutliern society, were not ob- 
tained from Ball, but from other and creditable 
sources ; he avers, however, that all the facts which 
relate personally to the fugitive, were received from 
his own lips. How far this personal narrative is true 
is a question which each reader must, of course, de- 
cide for himself 

It is possible, and not improbable, that vanity may 
have induced the hero to exaggerate his exploits, and 
that ignorance and forgetfulness may in some in- 
stances,, have rendered his tale discordant. The 
hardships he encountered in his various attempts to 
escape from bondage, are indeed extreme, but are 
not for that reason incredible, since it is difficult to 
estimate the amount of human suffering that can be 
voluntarily endured for an adequate object. The 
account of his voyage from Savannah to Philadel- 
phia, strange as it is, derives strong confirmation 
from the following still more extraordinary account 
taken from a New- York journal. 

" The captain of a vessel from North Carolina, 
called on the police for advisement respecting a 
slave he had unconsciously brought away in his 
vessel, under the following curious circumstances. 
Three or four days after he had got to sea, he be- 



INTRODUCTION. Ill 

gan to be haunted every liour with tones of distress, 
seemingly proceeding- from a human voice in the 
very lowest part of the vessel. A particular scrutiny 
was finally instituted, and it was concluded, that the 
creature, whatever aiul whoever it might be, must 
be confined down in the run, under the cabin floor, 
and on l)oring a liole with an auger, and demanding 
' Who's there V a feeble voice responded, ' Poor ne- 
gro, massa !' It was clear enough then, that some 
run-away negro had hid himself there, before they 
sailed, trusting to Providence for his ultimate escape. 
Having discovered him, however, it was impossible 
to give him relief, for the captain had stowed even 
the cabin so completely full with cotton as but just 
to leave room for a small tiible for himself and the 
mate to eat on, and as for unloading at sea, that was 
pretty much out of the question. Accordingly 
there he had to lie, stretched at full length, for a te- 
dious interval of thirteen days, till the vessel arrived 
in port and unloaded, receiving his food and drink 
through the auger hole. 

" The fellow's story is, now he is released, that 
being determined to get away from slavery, he sup- 
plied himself with eggs, and biscuit, and some jugs 
of water, which latter he was just on the point of 
depositing in his lurking place, when he discovered 
the captain at a distance coming on board, and had 
to hurry down as fast as possible and leave them. 
That he lived on nothing but his eggs and biscuit 
till discovered by the captain ; not even getting a 
drop of water, except what he had the good fortune 



IV INTRODUCTION. 



to catch in his hand one day, when a vessel of water 
in the cabin was upset during a squall, and some of 
it ran down through the cracks of the floor over 
him." — Commercial Advertiser, 1822. 

With regard to the pictures given in this work of 
the internal Slave-trade, and of the economy of a 
cotton plantation, it may be observed, that they are 
perfectly consistent, not only with the various other 
representations which have from time to time been 
made by unimpeacliable witnesses, but also with the 
irresponsible despotism which is vested by law and 
custom in southern masters. That despotism with- 
in the confines of a plantation, is more absolute and 
irresistible than any that was ever wielded by a Ro- 
man emperor. The power of the latter, when no 
longer supportable, was terminated by revolt or per- 
sonal violence, and often with impunity. But to 
the despotism of the master, there is scarcely any 
conceivable limit, and from its cruelty there is no ref- 
uge. His plantation is his empire, his labourers are 
his subjects, and revolt and violence, instead of ab- 
ridging his power, are followed by inevitable and 
horrible punishment. The laws of the land do not, 
indeed, authorize the master to take hfe, but they do 
not forbid him to wear it out by excessive toil. 

Public opinion sometimes exercises a more control- 
ling influence than law, and it may perhaps be sup- 
posed, that it throws its shield before the helpless 
slave. But it should be recollected, that public opin- 
ion at the south is the opinion of the masters them- 
selves, and that they are individually amenable to it, 



INTRODUCTION'. V 

chieny in re^rard to their intercourse with each other 
as citizens, and not in regard to the authority they 
exercise over their '' property.'' In liis negro quar- 
ters, or his cotton field, the planter is w ithdrawn from 
the i^aze of his neiirjihours who have neitlier tiie 
right, nor the (lisposition, to ?cniiiiii/e hi- coiidiut. 
lie is then; an uiujin'stioned despot, and his vassals 
have no press to })ro(laini their wrongs, no trihunal 
to petition for a redress:! of grievances, and :iic prohib- 
ited from cntcriiii; a Court of Justice as suitors, or 
even as witnesses against any individual whoso 
complexion is not coloured likr iJM'ir own. Hence 
it follows, that the masttr is virtually the arbiter of 
life and death. All hi.tory and all our knowledge of 
human nature uniie in hearing testimony to the 
hardening and corrupting inlluence of irresponsible 
power on its posse.-^sor. 8»)me, indeed, are shielded 
against this inlluence by natural Injuevolence, or re- 
Ugious principle ; and it is creditable to Halls can- 
dour, that he mentions instances of kindness on the 
part of the masters ; but such instances must neces- 
sarily, from the very constitution of our nature, be 
exceptions to the general rule. The cruelty and de- 
testable injustice of the slave-code in all ages, and in 
all countries, conclusively establishes the general ef- 
fect of slavery in paralyzing the moral sense. 

Some readers may be disposed to doubt Ball's vera- 
city on account of the atrocious cruelties he relates. 
Such a doubt evinces a very imperfect acquaintance 
with southern feelings and manners. The cruelties 
recorded in the narrative, were practised by a few in- 
1* 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

dividuals, but if assembled multitudes in the slave- 
states can publicly unite in perpetrating still greater 
atrocities, then surely the story told by Ball is not in- 
credible. 

The following deeds of horror recounted by the 
public journals, render tame and insignificant the 
acts of cruelty detailed in the work before us. 

" Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

" Horrid occurrence. — Some time during the 
last week, one of those outrageous transactions, and 
we really think disgraceful to the character of civil- 
ized man, took place near the north-east boundary 
line of Perry, adjoining Bibb and Autauga counties. 
The circumstances, we are informed by a gentleman 
from that county, are — that a Mr. McNeilly having 
lost some clothing, or other property of no great 
value, the slave of a neighbouring planter w^as 
charged with the theft. McNeilly, in company with 
his brother, found the negro driving his master's 
wagon — they seized him, and either did, or were 
about to chastise him, when the negro stabbed 
McNeilly so that he died in an hour afterwards. 
The negro was taken before a justice of the peace, 
who, after serious deliberation, waived his authority, 
perhaps through fear, as the crowd of persons from 
the above counties had collected to the nimiber of 
seventy or eighty men, near Mr. People's (the jus- 
tice) house. He acted as president of the mob, and 
put the vote, when it was decided he should be im- 
mediately executed by beinginuRNT to death. 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

The sable culprit was led to a tree and tied to it, and a 
large quantity of pine knots collected and placed 
round him, and the fatal torch applied to the pile, 
even against the remonstrances of several gentlemen 
who were present, and the miserable being was, in 
a short time, burnt to ashes. 

" This is the sfxond negro who has been thus 
put to death without Judge or jury in that county." 

On the 28th of April, 1836, a negro was burnt 
alive at St. Louis, by a numerous mob. The 
Alton Telegraph gives the following particulars. 

" All was silent as death, while the executioners 
were piling wood around the victim. He said not a 
word, probably feeling that the flames had seized 
upon him. He then uttered an awful howl, attempt- 
ing to sing and pray, then hunix his head and suffer- 
ed in silence, excepting in the following instance : — 
After the flames had surrounded their prey, and 
when his clothes were in a blaze all over him, his 
eyes burnt out of his head, and his mouth seemingly 
parched to a cinder, some one in the crowd, more 
compassionate than the rest, proposed to put an end 
to his misery by shooting him, when it was replied, 
' that would be of no use since he was already out 
of pain.' ' No, no,' said the wretch, ' 1 am not, — I 
am suffering as much as ever — shoot me, shoot 
me ! ' ' No, no,' said one of the fiends who was 
standing about the sacrifice they were roasting, 
' he shall not be shot, I would sooner slacken the 
fire, if that would increase his misery ! ' and the 



Vui INTRODUCTION. 

man who said this, was, we understand, an officer of 

justice ! " 

'' We understand," says the New Orleans Post of 
June 7th, 1836, '• that a negro man was lately con- 
demned by the mob, to be burned over a slow 
FIRE, which was put into execution at Grand 
Gulf, for murdering a black woman and her mas- 
ter, Mr. Green, a respectable citizen of that place, 
who attempted to save her from the clutches of this 
monster." 

"We have been informed," says the Aikansas 
Gazette of the 29th October, 1836, "that the slave 
William J who murdered his master [Huskey) 
some weeks since, and several negroes, was taken 
by a party, a few days since, from the Sheriff of 
Hot Spring, and burned alive ! yes, tied up to 
the hmb of a tree, a fire built under him, and con- 



re 



I ' 



sumed in slow and lingering tortu 

It has been already observed, that the master is 
virtually the arbiter of life and death. How far the 
state of public opinion at the south confirms or con- 
tradicts this assertion, may be seen from the annexed 
report of a suit brought to recover the value of a mur- 
dered slave. If he who takes the life of another's 
slave is permitted to go at large without molestation, 
after making compensation for the property destroyed, 
who shall presume to punish the owner for doing 
what he will with his own l 

From the Nashville (Tennessee) Banner, June, 1834. 

" Interesting trial. — During the session of 



INTRODICTIOX. IX 

the circuit-court for Davison county, which ad- 
journed a few days since, a case was tried of more 
than usual interest to the puhhc. It was that of 
:\Ieeks a<^ainst Philips, for the value of a slave who 
had been killed by Philips, whilst in the enij)loy- 
nient of Meeks as his overseer. The following 
abstract of the evidence was furnished us by a disin- 
ten-trd memlKir of tlie bar, who was not engaged as 
counsel on either side of the cause. 

" ' It ap[)oarod in evidonce that the negro h;id diso- 
brycd Philips' orders, in ^Mni^ away one night with- 
out his pcrniission, for whi<h. in accordance with his 
duty, he undertook to chastise him. 'I'lie lx)y proved 
somewhat refractory, and probably offered resistance, 
though there was no direct evidence of the fact. 
From Philips' admissions, wliich must be taken for, 
as well as against him, it seems he had a scuHle with 
the lioy, during which, the l)oy inflicted a blow^ upon 
him, which produced great pain. Philips, with 
assistance, finally subdued hiiu. While endeavour- 
ing U) swing him to the limb of a tree, he resisted by 
pulling back ; whereupn Philips, who is a large and 
strouLT man, gave him several blows upon his head 
with tin; butt of a loaded horsewhip. Having 
tied him to the limb the iop<> gave way, and the boy 
fell to the ground, when Pliilips gave him several 
violent kicks in the side, and again swung him to 
the tree. He then called for a cow-hide, which was 
accordingly brought, and the chastisement was com- 
menced anew. The suffering wretch implored for 



X INTRODUCTION. 

mercy in vain. Philips would whip him awhile, 
and then rest only to renew his strokes and wreak 
his vengeance, for he repeatedly avowed his inten- 
tion of whipping him to death ! — saying, he had as 
good a negro to put in his room, or remunerate his 
master for the loss of him. The sufferer, writhing 
under the stinging tortures of the lash, continued to 
implore for mercy, while those who were present in- 
terposed, and pleaded, too, in his behalf ; but there 
was no relenting arm, until life was nearly extinct, 
and feeling had taken its departure. He was cut 
loose bleeding and weak, overcome with extreme 
exhaustion and debility, and died in a few minutes 
after.' The jury, of course, found for the plaintiff." 



P R E F A r E . 

Ix the following pages, the reader wiJl find em- 
bodied the principal incidents that have occiirn^d in 
the life of a slav, in the Tnited States of America. 
Thp nnrrative is taken fn.m th.- month of the adven- 
turer himself; and if the copy (lex's not retain the 
idrniical words of the oriirinal. the sense and import, 
U least, are fiiilijiiijy preserved. 

Many of liis (.pinions have heen cautiouslv omit- 
ted, or carefiiily suppressed, as being of no value to 
the reader; and his sentiments U|tbn the subject of 
slavery, have not been emlx)died in this work. Tlie 
design of the writer, who is no more than the record- 
er of the fads deHil.d in him by another, has heen 
to render the narrative as simple, and the style of 
the story as plain, as the laws of the kuiguag.' would 
permit. To introduce the reader, as it were, to a 
view of the cotton fields, and exhibit, not to his ima- 
gination, but to his very eyes, the mode of life to 
which the slaves on the southern plantations must 
conform, has been the primary object of the compiler. 
The book has been written without fear or preju- 
dice, and no opinions have been consulted in its com- 
position. The sole view of the writer has been to 
make the citizens of the United States acquainted 
with each other, and to give a faithful portrait of the 
manners, usages, and customs of the southern peo- 
ple, so far as those manners, usages, and customs 



XU PREFACE. 

have fallen under the observations of a common 
negro slave, endued by nature with a tolerable por- 
tion of intellectual capacity. The more reliance is 
to be placed upon his relations of those things that 
he saw in the southern country, when it is recollect- 
ed that he had been born and brought up in a part of 
the state of Maryland, in which, of all others, the .spirit 
of the "old aristocracy," as it has not unaptly been 
called, retained much of its pristine vigour in his 
youth ; and where he had an early opportunity of see- 
ing many of the most respectable, best educated, and 
most highly enlightened families of both Maryland 
and Virginia, a constant succession of kind offices, 
friendly visits, and family alliances, having at that 
day united the most distinguished inhabitants of the 
two sides of the Potomac, in the social relations of 
one people. 

It might naturally be expected, that a man who 
had passed through so many scenes of adversity, 
and had suflered so many wrongs at the hands of 
his fellow-man, would feel much of the bitterness of 
heart that is engendered by a remembrance of una- 
toned injuries ; but every sentiment of this kind has 
been carefully excluded from the following pages, in 
which the reader will find nothing but an unadorn- 
ed detail of acts, and the impressions those acts produ- 
ced on the mind of him upon whom they operated. 



N A n R A 'I^ I \' E 



( K \i''n:i; i. 

Tni; system of nlavcry, as pracii^od in ilm linhd 
Slates, Ijas l>rcn, aiul is now. Iml liltlc iindrr^toixl hy 
llip \}cn[)\r who live north of thr Potomac and the 
Ohio: lor, nlthmmh in(h\i(lii;il cases of extreme cru- 
elty and oppression mcasion.dly (K'cur in Maryland, 
yet the -^^eneral treatment of tlie black |)e()ple, is I'lr 
more lenient and mild in that state, than it is farther 
south. This, I presume, is mainly to Im- attributed 
to the vicinity of the free i^tate of Pennsylvania ; hut. 
in no small detcree, to the influence of the |K)|)ulation 
of the cities of Haltimore and \Va-hini;ton, over (jif, 
families of the planters of the surroundini: counties. 
For experience has tautjht me. that l>4)th masters anrl 
mistresses, who, if not ol)scr\rd hv stran<Ters, would 
treat their slaves with the utmost rigour, are so far 
operjited upn, !)y a sense of shame or pride, as to 
provide them toleral)l\ with Ijnih food and cjothin"" 
when they know their conduct is suljject lo I he ob- 
servation of persons, whose gcKxl opinion they wish 
to preserve. A large number of the most respectable 
and wealthy people in lx)th Washington and Balti- 
more, being altogether opposed to the practice of sla- 
2 



14 NARRATIVE OF THE 

very, hold a constant control over the actions of their 
friends, the farmers, and thus prev^ent much misery ; 
but in the south, the case is widely different. There, 
every man, and every woman too. except prevented 
by poverty, is a slave-holder; and the entire white 
population is leagued together by a common bond of 
the most sordid interest, in the torture and oppression 
of the poor descendants of Africa. If the negro is 
wronged, there is no one to whom he can complain 
— if suffering for want of the coarsest food, he dare 
not steal— if flogged till the flesh falls from his 
bones, he must not murmur— and if compelled to 
perform his daily toil in an iron collar, no expression 
of resentment must escape his lips. 

People of the northern states, who make excur- 
sions to the south, visit the principal cities and towns, 
travel the most frequented highways, or even sojourn 
for a time at the residences of the laigc planters, and 
partake of their hospitality and amusements, know 
nothing of the condition of the southern slaves. To 
acquire this knowledge, the traveller must take up 
his abode for a season, in the lodge of the overseer, 
pass a summer in the remote cotton fields, or spend 
a year within view of the rice swamps. By attend- 
ino" for one month, the court which the overseer of a 
large estate holds every evening in the cotton-gin 
yard, and witnessing the execution of his decrees, a 
Turk or a Russian would find the tribunals of his 
country far outdone. 

It seems to be a law of nature, that slavery is 
equally destructive to the master and the slave ; for. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 15 

whilst it stupifies the latter with fear, and reduces 
him below the condition of man, it brutalizes the for- 
mer, by the practice of continual tyranny ; and 
makes him the prey of all the vices which render 
human nature loathsome. 

In th«.' following simple narrative of an unearned 
man, I have endeavoured, faithfully and truly, to 
present to the reader, some of the most material ac- 
cidents whiclL occurred to myself, in a periotl of thirty 
years of slavery in tin* free lu-public of the United 
States ; as well as many circumstances, which I ob- 
served in the condition and conduct of other persons 
during that period. 

It has been suppsed, by many, that the state of 
the southern slaves is constantly becoming better ; 
and that the treatment which they receive at the 
hands of their masters, is progressively milder and 
more humane ; but the contrary of all this is un- 
(juestionably the truth ; for, under the bad culture 
which is practised in the south, the land is constant- 
ly becoming poorer, and the means of getting food, 
more and more ditlicult. So long as the land is new 
and rich, and produces corn and sweet potatoes 
abundantly, the black people seldom suffer greatly 
for food ; but, when the ground is all cleared, and 
planted in rice or cotton, corn and potatoes become 
scarce ; mid when corn has to be bought on a cot- 
ton plantation, the people must expect to make 
acquaintance loith hunger. 

My grandfather was brought froiii Africa, and 
sold as a slave in Calvert county, in Maryland, about 



16 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the year 1730. 1 never understood the name of the 
ship in which he was imported, nor the name of the 
planter who bought him on his arrival, but at the 
time I knew him, he was a slave in a family called 
Mauel, w^ho resided near Leonard tow^n. My father 
was a slave in a family named Hantz, living near 
the same place. My mother w^as tlie slave of a to- 
bacco planter, an old man, who died, according to 
the best of my recollection, when I was about four 
years old, leaving his property in such a situation 
that it became necessary, as I suppose, to sell a part 
of it to pay his debts. Soon after his death, several 
of his slaves, and with otliers myself, were sold at 
public vendue. My mother had several children, 
my brothers and sisters, and we were all sold on the 
same day to ditferent purchasers. Our new master 
took us away, and I never saw my mother, nor any 
of my brothers and sisters afterwards. _This w^as, I 
presume, about the year 1785. I learned subse- 
quently, from my father, that my mother was sold to 
a Georgia trader, who soon after that carried her 
away from Maryland. Her other children w^ere sold 
to slave-dealers from Carolina, and were also taken 
aw^ay, so that I was left alone in Calvert county, with 
my father, whose owner lived only a few miles from 
my new^ master's residence. At the time I w^as sold 
I was quite naked, having never had any clothes in 
my life : but my new master had brought with him 
a child's frock or wn-apper, belonging to one of his 
own children ; and after he had purchased me, he 
dressed me in this garment, took me before him on 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



17 



his horso, and started home ; but my |XH)r mother, 
when e^he saw mo leavinsz: her fur the la^^ time, ran 
after me, took mc down from the horse. cla<|)ed me 
in lirr arms, and wept lundly and l.iiterly over me. 
Mv master seemed to pity her, and endeavoured to 
soothe lier distress by teUing her that lie would be a 
good master to mc, and that I should m.t want any 
tiling. She tlicn, still holdinj; me in ber arms, 
walked alonij the road l)e>ide the horse as he moved 
slowK, ai d earnestly and imploriuirly hesoupbt my 
nia-ter to buv b«M and ilir rt-t of ber rbildren, and 
not permit them to Im- carried away by tht; negro 
buyers; but whilst ibus rntrcatinir bim to save her 
and b«-r familv, the >lave-drivt'i-, who bad fust bought 
her, came ruimin'i in pursuit ot lu-r with a raw bide 
in bis band. \\ ben be overtcM)k us be told In-r bo 
was bor master now, ami ordored b«r to uive thut 
little neijro to its ownei, and r()me back with bim. 

My mother then turned to him and cried, •• Oh, 
master, do not take me from my child ' ' W about 
making any reply, he gave ber two or three heavy 
blows on the shoulders with his raw hide, snatched 
me from her arms, handed me to my master, and 
seiziuiz: ber by one arm, dragged her back towards 
the place of sale. My master then quickened the 
pace of his horse ; and as we advanced, the cries of 
my poor parent became more and more indistinct — 
at length they died away in the distance, and I never 
again heard the voice of my poor motber. Young 
as I wa-^, the horrors of that day sank deeply into 
mv heart, and even at this time, thougli half a cen- 
2* 



18 NARRATIVE OF THE 

tury has elapsed, the terrors of the scene return 
with painful vividness upon my memory. Fright- 
ened at the sight of the cruelties inflicted upon my 
poor mother, I forgot my own sorrows at parting 
from her and clung to my new master, as an angel 
and a saviour, when compared with the hardened 
fiend into whose power she had fallen. She had 
been a kind and good mother to me ; had warmed me 
in her bosom in the cold nights of winter ; and had 
often divided the scanty pittance of food allowed her 
by her mistress, between my brothers, and sisters, and 
me, and gone supperless to l)ed herself. Whatever 
victuals she could obtain bej^ond the coarse food, salt 
fish, and corn-bread, allowed to slaves on the Patux- 
ent and Potomac rivers, she carefully distributed 
among her children, and treated us with all the ten- 
derness which her own miserable condition would 
permit. I have no doubt that she was chained and 
driven to Carohna, and toiled out the residue of a for- 
lorn and famished existence in the rice swamps, or 
indigo fields of the south. 

My father never recovered from the efTects of the 
shock, which this sudden and overwhelming ruin 
of his family ga\e him. He had formerly been of a 
gay social temper, and when he came to see us on a 
Saturday night, he always brought us some little 
present, such as the means of a poor slave would 
allow — apples, melons, sweet potatoes, or, if he could 
pi'ocure nothing else, a little parched corn, which 
tasted better in our cabin, because he had brought it. 

He spent the greater part of the time, which his 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES RALL. 19 

master perniitled him to pass with ns. in relating 
such stories as lie liad learned from his companions, 
or in singin*,^ the rude songs common amonirst the 
slaves of Maryland and Virginia. After this tiinr I 
never heard him lauiiii heartily, or siiiir a song. He 
bcciimegloomy and morose in his temper, to all hut 
me; and s|)^it nearly all \\\< Icisurt- timt- with my 
grandfathrr, who claimed kindrrd with soine royal 
family in Africa, and had hern a great warrior in 
his native country. The master of my father was 
a hard penurious man, and so exceedinLrly avari- 
cious, that he scarcely allowed himself the common 
conveniences of life. A stranger to sensihility, he 
w;is incapahleof tracing the change in the temper 
and deportment of my father, to its true cause; but 
attributed it to a sullen discontent with his condition 
as a slave, and a de>in; to abandon his service, and 
seek his lil)eriy ijy escaping to some of the free states. 
To prevent the perpetration of this sus})ected crime 
of nnui'uij iuray from shivtrij. the old man 
resolved to sell my father to a souiherfi slave-dealer, 
and accordinLrU apjjlied to on«' of those men, who 
was at that lime in Calvert, to become the pur- 
chaser. The price was agreed on. but, as my father 
was a very strong, active, and resolute man, it was 
deemed unsafe for the Georgian to attempt to seize 
him, even with the aid of others, in the day-time, 
when he was at work, as it was known he carried 
upon his person a large knife. It was therefore 
determined to secure him by stratagem, and for this 
purpose, a farmer in the neighbourhood, who was 



20 NARRATIVE OP THE 

made privy to the plan, alleged that he had lost a 
pig, which must have been stolen by some one, and 
that he suspected my father to be the thief. A con- 
stable was employed to arrest him, but as he was 
afraid to undertake the business alone, he called on 
his way, at the house of the master of my grand- 
father, to procure assistance from the overseer of the 
plantation. When he arrived at the house, the 
overseer was at the barn, and thither he repaired to 
make his application. At the end of the barn was 
the coach-house, and as the day was cool, to avoid 
the wind which was high, the two walked to the 
side of the coach-house to talk over the matter, and 
settle their plan of operations. It so happened, that 
my grandfather, whose business it was to keep the 
coach in good condition, was at work at this time, 
rubbing the plated handles of the doors, and bright- 
ening the other metallic parts of the vehicle. Hear- 
ing the voice of the overseer without, he suspended 
his work, and listening attentively, became a party 
to their councils. They agreed that they would 
delay the execution of their project until the next 
day, as it was then late. They supposed they would 
have no difficulty in apprehending their intended 
victim, as, knowing himself innocent of the theft, he 
would readily consent to go with the constable to a 
justice of the peace, to have the charge examined. 
That night, however, about midnight, my grand- 
father silently repaired to the cabin of my father, a 
distance of about three miles, aroused him from his 
sleep, made him acquainted with the extent of his 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 21 

(lanuer. gave liim a lK)tlle of cider and a small bag 
of parched corn, and then praying to the God of his 
native country to protect his son. enjoined him to lly 
from the destruction which awailfd him. In the 
morning, the Georgian could nut tmd his newly 
purchased slave, v Iw- was i.-ver s. n. or heard ol in 
.■\hiryland from that day. He pn.hahly had pru- 
dence enough to conceal himself in the day, ^ind 
travf'l onlv at niixht ; by this means making his way 
slouly up tin; country, between the Palapsco and 
Pamx. Ml. until he was able to strike across to the 
nortli, and rrach Pennsylvania. 

After llie lli^ht of my father, my i^rand father was 
the only person Irft in ^laiylaml. wiili whom I could 
claim kindred. He was at that time an old man, 
as he himself said, nearly eiirhty years of age, and 
he manifested towards me all iU fondness which a 
person so far advanced in life could be, expected to 
feel for a child. As be was too feeble to perform 
much hard labour, his master did not rr(iuire him 
either to live or to work with the common Held 
liands, who were employed the greater part of the 
year in cultivating tobacco, and preparing it for mar- 
ket, that being the staple crop of all the lower part 
of the western shore of ]Maryland at that time. 
Indeed, old Ben, as my grandfather was called, bad 
always expressed great contempt for his fellow slaves, 
they being, as he said, a mean and vulgar race, quite 
beneath his rank, and the dignity of his former sta- 
tion. He had, during all the time that 1 knew him, 
a small cabin of his own, with about half an acre of 



22 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ground attached to it, which he cultivated oa his 
own account, and from which lie drew a large por- 
tion of his subsistence. He entertained strange and 
peculiar notions of re'igion, and prayed every wight, 
though he said he ought to pray oftener ; but that 
his God would excuse him for the non-performance 
of this duty in consideration of his being a slave, 
and compelled to devote his whole time to the service 
of his master. He never went to church or meeting, 
and held, that the religion of tliis country was alto- 
gether false, and indeed, no religion at all ; being the 
mere invention of priests and crafty men, who hoped 
thereby to profit through the ignorance and credulity 
of the luultitude. In support of this opinion, he main- 
tained that there could only be one truu sta dard of 
faith, which was the case in his country, where all 
the people worshipped together in the same assem- 
bly, and beljeved in the same doctrines which had 
been of old time delivered by the true God to a holy 
man, who was taken up into heaven for that pur- 
pose, and affer he had received the divine communi- 
cation, had returned to earth, and spent a hundred 
years in preaching and imparting the truth which 
had been revealed to him, to mankind. This in- 
spired man resided in some country, at a great dis- 
tance from that of my grandfather, but had come 
there, across a part of the sea, in company with an 
angel ; and instructed the people in the mysteries of 
the true faith, which had ever since been preserved 
in its utmost purity, by the descendants of those 
who received it, through a period of more than ten 



ADVENTURKS OF CHARLES BALL. 23 

ilioii>antl years. My grandfather said, tliat tlie tenets 
of this K'liuion wore so plain and srlf-evidcnl, that any 
one could understand them, without any other in- 
struction, than the reading of a small book, a copy 
of w hich was kept in every family, and which con- 
tained all the rules both of faith and practice, neces- 
sary for any one to know or exercise. No one was per- 
mitted to expound or explain this book, as it was 
known to l)c the oracle of the true God, ami it 
was held impious for any person to give a con- 
struction to his words, dilVer«'nt from that wliich 
was so j)alp;ibly and manifestly expressed on the 
face of the book. 

'J1iis book was likewise written in such plain and 
intellirrible lani^uage, that only one meaning could 
))ossibly be i^iven to any our. part of it; and was 
with[d so compendious and brief, tb;it jieople could, 
with very little laiK)ur, commit tbe whole of its pre- 
cepts to memory. The priests had, at several times, 
ittempted to piililish commentaries and glossaries 
upon this book ; but as often as this liad been at- 
tempted, the perpetrators had been tried, found 
guilty of conspiring to corrupt the public morals, and 
then banished from the country. People who were 
disposed to worship publicly, convened together in 
summer, under the boughs of a large tree, and the 
eldest person present read the inspired book from be- 
ginning to end, Avhich could be done in two hours, 
at most. Sometimes a priest was employed to read 
the book, but he was never, by any means, allowed 
to add any observations of his own, as it would 



24 NARRATIVE OF THE 

have been considered absurd as well as very wicked, 
for a mere man to attempt to add to, alter, amend? 
or in any manner give a colouring to the revealed 
word of God. In winter, when it rained constant- 
ly, the worshippers met under the roof of a house 
covered with the leaves of a certain tree, which 
grew in great abundance on the margins of all the 
streams. 

The law imposed no penalties on those who did 
not profess to believe the contents of the sacred book ; 
but those who did not Uve according to its rules were 
deemed bad subjects, and were compelled to become 
soldiers, as being fit only for a life of bloodshed and 
cruelty. 

The book inculcated no particular form of belief, 
and left men free to profess what faith they pleased ; 
but its principles of morality were extreme y rigid 
and uncompromising. Love of country, charity, and 
social affection, were the chief points of duty enjoin- 
ed by it. Lying and drunkenness were strictly pro- 
hibited, and those guilty of these vices were severely 
punished. Cruelty was placed in the same rank of 
crimes ; but the mode of punishment was left en- 
tirely to the civil law-giver. The book required nei- 
ther fastings, penances, nor pilgrimages ; but tender- 
ness to wives and children, was one of its most positive 
injunctions. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 25 



< IIAPTllR II. 

The name of the man who purchased m«^ at the 
veiidiic, and became my master, was John Cox ; 
but he was gonrrally called Jack (ox. He was a 
man of kindly feelint^s towards iiis family, and 
treats! his slaves, of wh«)m he had several besides 
m<-. with humanity. \\r [xTmitled my i^^randfither 
to viHt nic as often as Ik- pleased, and allowed him 
somciimrs to carry me to his own cabin, which sloixl 
in a lonely place, at the iiead of a deep hollow, al- 
most surrounded by a thicket of cedar trees, which 
had irn.wn up in a worn out and abandoned tobacco 
field. My master gave n>e better clotlns than the 
little slaves of my aj^e generally received in Calvert, 
and often tnld me (h;n hr iiitciid.d to make me. his 
waiter, and that if 1 Udiaved well I should become 
his overseer in time. These stations of waiter and 
overseer appeared to m,- i,, !,<• the hiulie^L points of 
honom- and greatness m the whole world, and had 
not circumstances frusiraUnl my master's [)lans, as 
well as my ..wn views, I should probably have been 
living at this time in a cabin on the corner of some 
tobacco planuition. 

Fortune had decreed otherwise. When I was 
about twelve years old, my master, Jack Cox, died 
of a disease which had long confined him to the 
house. I was sorry for the death of my master, 
who had always been kind to me ; and I soon disco- 
vered that I had good cause to regret his departure 
3 



28 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



burthensome, and I was permitted to spend Sunday 
afternoon in my own way. 1 generally went up 
into the city to see the new and splendid buildings • 
often walked as far as Georgetown, and made many 
new acquaintances amongst the slaves, and frequent- 
ly saw large nmiibers of people of my colour chained 
together in long trains, and driven off towards the 
south. At that time the Slave-trade was not re- 
garded with so much indignation and disgust, as it 
is now. It was a rare thing to hear of a person of 
colour running away, and escaping altogether from 
his master : my father being the only one within 
my knowledge, who had, before this time, obtained 
his liberty in this manner, in Calvert county ; and, 
as before stated, I never heard what became of him 
after his flight. 

I remained on board the Congress, and about the 
navy-yard, two years, and was quite satisfied with 
my lot, until about three months before the expira- 
tion of this period, when it so happened that a 
schooner, loaded with iron and other materials for 
the use of the yard, arrived from Philadelpliia. She 
came and lay close by the Congress, to discharge her 
cargo, and amongst her crew I observed a black 
man, with whom, in the course of a day or two, I 
became acquainted. He told me he was free, and 
lived in Philadelphia, where he kept a house of en- 
tertainment for sailors, which he said was attended 
to in his absence by his wife. 

His description of Philadelphia, and of the liberty 
enjoyed there by the black people, so charmed my 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES RALL. 29 

imagination thai I determined to deviee some plan 
of escaping from the Conirress, and makini? my 
way to the north. I coniniunicaied my doi^igns to 
my new friend, who promised to i^ive mo his aid. 
Weajrreed that the ni<ihtlMMore the schooner sliould 
sail, I was to be concealed in tlie hold, amonj^^st 
a parcel of \ix>^ tobacco, \vhi('h h*^ said the captain 
h id undertaken to carry to !*hilad«'lphia. The siiil- 
ini; of the schooner was delayed lon-xer tiian we ex- 
pected ; and, fnially, her captain purchased a cargo 
t)r ll "lu in (ieorgctown, and sailed for the West In- 
di<.'s. W liilst I was anxiously awaiting some other 
opportunity of making my way to Philadelphia, (the 
idea of crossing tiic count ry in th<' \v«'>tern part of 
Pennsylvania never entered my mind,) new-year's- 
day came, and with it came my olil mastca- from 
Calvert, accompanied hy a gentleman namrd(iib- 
son, to whom he said he had sold me. and to whom 
he delivered me over in the navy-yard. Wc all 
three get out that same evening for Calvert, and 
reached the residence of my new master the next 
day. Here I was informed that I had become the 
subject of a law-suit. My new master claimed me 
under his purchase from old 3Ir. Cox ; and another 
gentleman of the neighlx)urhood. named Levin Bal- 
lard, had bought me of the children of my former 
master, Jack Cox. This suit continued in the 
courts of Calvert county more than two years : but 
was finally decided in favour of him who had bought 
me of the children. 

I went home with my master, Mr. Gibson, who 
3* 



30 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



was a farmer, and with whom I lived three years. 
Soon after I came to live with Mr. Gibson, I married 
a girl of colour named Judah, the slave of a gentle- 
man by the name of Symmes, who resided in the 
same neighbourhood. I was at the house of Mr. 
Symmes every week; and became as well acquaint- 
ed with him and his family, as I was with my 
master. 

Mr. Symmes also married a wife about the time I 
did. The lady whom he married lived near Phila- 
delphia, and when she first came to Maryland, she 
refused to be served by a black cham])ermaid, but 
employed a white girl, the daughter of a poor man, 
who lived near. The lady was re|)orted to be very 
Avealthy, and brought a large trunk full of plate, 
and other valuable articles. This trunk was so 
heavy that I could scarcely carry it, and it impress- 
ed my mind with the idea of great riches in the 
owner, at that time. After some time Mrs. Symmes 
dismissed her white chambermaid, and placed my 
wife in that situation, which 1 regarded as a fortu- 
nate circumstance, as it insured her good food, and 
at least one good suit of clothes. 

The Symmes' family was one of the most ancient 
in Maryland, and had been a long time resident in 
Calvert county. The grounds had been laid out, 
and all the improvements prq.ected about the family 
abode, in a style of much magnificence, according to 
the custom of the old aristocracy of Maryland and 
Virginia. 

Appendant to the domicile, and at no great dis- 



ADVENTURKS OF CHARLES 1^ ALL. 31 

tance from the house, was a family vault, built of 
brirk. in wliirli rcp^ed llir occupants of the estate, 
who had liwd tlnre for many previous s^enorations. 
This vault had not been opened or entered for fifteen 
years previous to llie lime of which I speak ; but it 
so hap|)ened, that at this |HTi(Kl, a younij: "'^^'b a dis- 
tant relation of ihe family, died, having requested on 
his death-l»ed. that he miijlit l>e buried in this family 
resting place. AVben I came on Saturday evening 
to sec my wife and child, Mr. Synune?^ desired me, 
as I was older tli.iu aiiv of his black men, to take an 
in>M pick and no and open the vault, which 1 ac- 
conliuL^ly did, by cnttinix away the mortar, and re- 
movini^ a few briiks from om- side (irtiic bnildiii*:;; 
but I could not riMiiovc more tban ibrre or four bricks 
iK'fore I was obli«;rd, by tbe borrid ellluvia which 
issue(l at the aperture, to retire. It was tlie most 
dcadlv and sickenin<r scent tbat I have ever smelled, 
and I could rml return to coiuplete tbe work until 
afier tlie sun b.'d ri-en tbe next day, w ben I pulled 
down -o mu<b of one of the side walls, as to permit 
person- to walk in upriii^bt. I iben went in alone, 
and examined ibis bouse of the dead, and surely no 
picture could more -troiiL'^ly and vi\ idly depict the 
emptiness of all earthly vanity, and tbe notbin<:nos3 
of human [)ride. Dispersed over the lloor lay the 
fragmentij of m<>re than twenty human skeletons, 
each in the place where it had be"n deposited by the 
idle tenderness of surviving friends. In some cases 
notbing remained but the hair and the larger bones, 
whilst in several the form of the coffin was yet visi- 



32 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ble, with all the bones resting in their proper places. 
One coffin, the sides of which were yet standing, the 
lid only having decayed and partly fallen in, so as to 
disclose the contents of this narrow cell, presented a 
peculiarly moving spectacle. Upon the centre of 
the lid was a large silver plate, and the head and 
foot were adorned with silver stars. The nails which 
had united the parts of the coffin had also silver 
heads. Within lay the skeletons of a mother and 
her infant child, in slumbers only to be broken by 
the peal of tbe last trumpet. The bones of the in- 
fant lay upon the breast of the mother, where the 
hands of affection had shrouded them. The ribs of 
the parent had fallen down, and rested on the back 
bone. Many gold rings were about the bones of 
the fingers Brilliant ear-rings lay beneath where 
tne ears had been ; and a glittering gold chain en- 
circled the ghastly and haggard vertebrae of a once 
beautiful neck. The shroud and flesh had disap- 
peared, but the hair of the mother appeared strong 
and fresh. Even the silken locks of the infant were 
still preserved. Behold the end of youth and beau- 
ty, and of all that is lovely in hfe ! The coffin was 
so much decayed that it could not be removed. A 
thick and dismal vapour hung embodied from the 
roof and walls of this charnal house, in appearance 
somewhat like a mass of dark cobwebs; but which 
was impalpable to the touch, and when stirred by 
the hand vanished away. On the second day we 
deposited with his kindred, the corpse of the young 
man, and at night I again carefully closed up the 



ADVENTIRKS OF rilARLFS r.AI.L. 33 

breach wliirh I had made in ihe walU of ihin lUvtl- 
ling-place of the dead. 



(H \v'v\:]\ in. 

Some short lime afi.T my wilr U-cain.- rhamhrr- 
maid lo her mbtrrsH, it was my mi-roruinr to 
chantjc masters oiio' more. liOviii llillard, who, 
as l>cfore stated, had |nirrhasetl me of thr . hil.h.ii 
(.f my former master, Jack Cox. wan succes.-^hil m 
liis law suit with Mr. (;il>son. the ohjecl of win. h 
was to dficrmiun the ritriit of property in m<- ; and 
our (lay. wliil-t I was at work in the corn-field, Mr. 
Ballard can»c and tnld me I was hi-j projMMty; ask- 
inir nir at the -anx- linu- if I was willini: to f?o with 
him. 1 i..l.lh.m I wa-^ ii..t willin«^Mo tjo ; but thai if 
I UlonjU'd to him 1 knew I must. We then went 
to the hou.-e, and .Mr. (iiln^.n not heini: at home, 
Mrs. Gibson told mm- I mu-^t i:.) wiili Mr. nallanl. 

I accordinsrly went with huu, drtrrmiuinir to serve 
him obediently and faithfully. I remained in hid 
service almost three years, and as he lived near the 
residence of my wife's master, my former nuxhi of 
life was not materially changed, hy thi-; change of 

home. 

^Irs. Symmes sjient nuich of her lime m ex- 
changing visits w ith the families of the other large 
planters, both in Calvert, and the neighlx)uring 
counties; and through my wife, 1 became acquaint- 



34 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ed with the private family history of many of the 
principal persons in Maryland. 

There was a great proprietor, who resided in an- 
other county, who owned several hundred ^ slaves ; 
and w4io permitted them to beg of travellers on the 
high-way. This same gentleman had several daugh- 
ters, and according to the custom of the time, kept 
what they called open house : that is, his house was 
free to all persons of genteel appearance, who chose 
to visit it. The young ladies were supposed to be 
the greatest fortunes in the country, were reputed 
beautiful, and consequently were greatly admired. 

Two gentlemen, who were lovers of these girls, 
desirous of amusing their miatro^ses, invited a young 
man, whose standing in society they supposed to be 
beneath theirs, to go with them to the manor, as it 
was called. \Vlien there, they endeavoured to make 
him an object of ridicule, in presence of the ladies ; 
but he so wxll acquitted himself, and manifested such 
superior wit and talents, that one of the young la- 
dies fell in love with him, and soon after, wrote him 
a letter, which led to their marriage. His two pre- 
tended friends were never afterwards countenanced 
by the family, as gentlemen of honour ; but the for- 
tunate husband avenged himself of his heartless 
companions, by inviting them to his wedding, and 
exposing them to the observation of the vast assem- 
blage of fashionable people, w^ho always attended a 
marriage, in the family of a great planter. 

The two gentlemen, who had been thus made to 
fall into the pit that they had dug for another, were 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 35 

SO much chacrrined at the issue of the adventure, tliat 
one, soon left ^Maryland ; and the other hccanie a 
common drunkard, and died a few years afterwards. 
My change of masters, reahsed all the evil appre- 
hensions which I had entertained. I found Mr. Hal- 
lard siillon and rrai)l)od in his temper, and always 
prone to fmd fm|j with my conduct— no matter how 
hard I had lahoiired, or how careful I was to fulfil 
all his orders, and ohry \\\< most unreasonahle com- 
mand-.-. Yet, it so li:ip|).iird, that he never heat 
me, for which, I was altoireiher indehted (o the nood 
rhararter, for inu-j try, .^ohrieiy, aLnl humility, 
whirh I had estahlishrd in I lie nein^hljourhood. I 
think he was ashanuMl to ahuse me, lest he should 
suHer in the irood opinion of the puhlic ; for he often 
fell into the. most viojoru fits of anirer ajrainst nie, 
and ov.'iw lirliiM'd mr with coarse and ahusive lan- 
p^uacre. He ilid not lmvc me clothes enough to keep 
me warm in w inter, and compelled me to work in 
the woods, when there was deep snow on the ground, 
hy which I sulVered very much. I had determined 
at last to speak to him to sell me to some per.>on in 
the neighhourhood, so that I might still he near my 
wife and children— hut a different fate awaited me. 
My master kept a store at a small village on the 

hank of the Patuxent river, called B , al- 

thougli he resided at some distance on a farm. One 
mornmg he rose early, and ordered me to take a 
yoke of oxen and go to the village, to hring home a 
cart which was there, saying he would follow me. 
He arrived at the village soon after I did, and took 



36 NARRATIVE OF THE 

his breakfast with his store-keeper. He then told 
me to come into the house and get my breakfast. 
Whilst I was eating in the kitchen, I observed him 
talking earnestly, but lowly, to a stranger near the 
kitchen door. I soon after went out, and hitched 
my oxen to the cart, and was about to drive off, 
when several men came round about me, and 
amongst them the stranger whom I had seen speak- 
ing with my master. This man came up to me, 
and, seizing me by tlie collar, shook me violently, 
saying I was his property, and must go with him to 
Georgia. At the sound of these words, the thoughts 
of my wife and chiklren rushed across my mind, and 
my heart died away within me. I saw and knew 
that my case was hopeless, and that resistance was 
vain, as there were near twenty persons present, all 
of whom were ready to assist the man by whom 1 
was kidnapped. I felt incapable of weeping or 
speaking, and in my despair I laughed loudly. My 
purchaser ordered me to cross my hands behind, 
which were quickly bound with a strong cord ; and 
he then told me that we must set out that very day 
for the south. I asked if I could not be allowed to 
go to see my wife and children, or if this could not 
be permitted, if they might not hav^e leave to come 
to see me ; but was told that 1 would be able to get 
another wife in Georgia. 

My new master, whose name I did not hear, took 
me that same day across the Patuxent, where I 
joined fifty-one other slaves, whom he had bought 
in Maryland. Thirty-two of these were men, and 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 37 

nineteen were women. Tlie women were merely 
tied together willi a rope, about ilie size of a V>ed 
cord, whicli was lied like a halter round the neck of 
each; but the men, uf whom I was the stoutest 
and btronir«st. were very diirerently ca|>arisoned. A 
stronif iron collar was closely fitted by means of a 
padlock round each of our necks. A chain of iron, 
al^^ut a himdred feet in leng^th, was passed throuuh 
the hasp of each [)adlock. except at the two ends, 
where the hasps uf the |)adlocks passed throuirh a 
link of the chain. In addition to this, we were 
handcuffed in pairs, with iron staplrvs and bolts, with 
a short chain, about a foot lonir, unitinii^ the handculVs 
anil liirir wc.ircMs in pairs. In iliis manner we were 
chained alternately by the rii^hl and left hand ; and 
the poor man. to whom I was thus iron«'d, wept like 
an infant when the blacksmith, with his heavy liam- 
mer. fastened the ends of the bolts that kej)t the sta- 
ples from slipping from our arms. For my own 
part. I felt indillerent to my fate. It ap()eared to me 
that the worst had come, that could come, and that 
no chan«re of fortune could harm me. 

After we were all chained and handcufled togeth- 
er, we sat down u|)on the ground ; and here reflect- 
ing u[K)n the sad reverse of fortune tliat had so sud- 
denly overtaken me, and the dreadful sulR'ring 
which awaited me, I became weary of life, and bit- 
terly execrated the day I was born. It seemed that 
I was destined by fate to drink the cup of sorrow to 
the very dregs, and that I should find no respite from 
misery but in the grave. I longed to die, and escape 
4 



38 NARRATIVE OF THE 

from the hands of my tormentors ; but even the 
wretched privilege of destroying myself was denied 
me ; for I could not shake off my chains, nor move 
a yard without the consent of my master. Reflecting 
in silence upon my forlorn condition, I at length con- 
cluded that as things could not become worse — and 
as the life of man is but a continued round of chan- 
ges, they must, of necessity, take a turn in my fa- 
vour at some future day. I found relief in this vague 
and indefinite hope, and when we received orders to 
go on board the scow, which was to transport us over 
the Patuxent, 1 marched down to the water with a 
firmness of purpose of which I did not believe my- 
self capable, a few minutes before. 

We were soon on the soutii side of the river, and 
taking up our line of march, we travelled about five 
miles that evening, and stopped for the night at one 
of those miserable public houses, so frequent in the 
lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, called " ordi- 
nariesr 

Our master ordered a pot of mush to be made for 
our supper ; after despatching which, we all lay down 
on the naked floor to sleep in our handcuffs and 
chains. The women, my fellow-slaves, lay on one 
side of the room ; and the men who were chained 
with me, occupied the other. I slept but little this 
night, which I passed in thinking of my wife and 
little children, whom I could not hope ever to see 
again. I also thought of my grandfather, and of the 
long nights I had passed with him, listening to his 
narratives of the scenes through which he had passed 



ADVKNTURK3 OF fllARLKS HALL. 39 

in Africa. I at lenc^lh fell asleep, but was distressed 
by painful dreams. My wife ai\d children appeared 
to be weepini^ and lamentin<^ my calamity : and he- 
geeci)in<^ and implorinir my master on their knees, 
not to carry me away from thnn. My little boy 
came and iKigijed me not it) .^o and leave him, and 
endeavoured, as I ihou'jht. with his little hands to 
brrak ill.' f.tt.Ts that iM.nnd me. I awoke in apmy 
and curstMl my existrncr. I could not pray, for the 
measure of my woes seemed to \yi full, and I felt as 
if there was no mercy in h»av.Mi. nor compassion on 
earth, for a man wh<» was horn a slave. Day at 
length came, and with the dawn, we resumed our 
journey towards the Potomac. As we passed along 
the road, I saw the slaves at work in the corn and 
tobacco-fields. I knew they toiled hard and lacked 
food ; but they were not, like me, dragged in chains 
from thrir wives, children, and friends. ( 'oinpan'd 
with me, they were the happiest of mortals. I al 
most envied them their blessed lot. 

Before night we crossed the Potomac, at Hoe's 
Ferry, and hade farewell to Maryland. At night wc 
stopped at the house of a poor gentleman, at least he 
appeared to wish my master to consider him a gen- 
tleman ; and he had no dilTiculty in establishing his 
claim to poverty. He lived at the side of the road, in 
a framed house, which had never been plastered 
within— the weather-boards being the only wall. 
He had about fifty acres of land enclosed by a fence, 
the remains of a farm which had once covered two 
or three hundred acres ; but the cedar bushes had 



40 NARRATIVE OF THE 

encroached upon all sides, until the cultivation had 
been confined to its present limits. The land was 
the very picture of sterility, and there was neither 
barn nor stable on the place. The owner was rag- 
ged, and his wife and children were in a similar 
plight. It was with difficulty that we obtained a 
bushel of corn, which our master ordered us to 
parch at a fire made in the yard, and to eat for our 
supper. Even this miserable family possessed two 
slaves, half-starved, half- naked wretches, whose ap- 
pearance bespoke them familiar with hunger, and 
victims of the lash ; but yet there was one pang 
whicli they had not known, — they had not been 
chained and driven from their parents, or children, 
into hopeless exile. 

We left this place early in the morning, and di- 
rected our course toward the south-west ; our master 
riding beside us, and hastening our march, some- 
times by words of encouragement, and sometimes by 
threats of punishment. The women took their 
place in the rear of our line. We halted about nine 
o'clock for breakfast, and received as much corn- 
bread as we could eat, together with a plate of 
broiled herrings, and about three pounds of pork 
amongst us. Before we left this place, I was removed 
from near the middle of the chain, and placed at the 
front end of it ; so that I now became the leader of 
the file, and held this post of honour until our irons 
were taken from us, near the town of Columbia in 
South Carohna. We continued our route this day 
along the high road between the Potomac and 



ADVENTURES OF THAREES BAEE. 41 

Rappahannock : and I several times saw each of 
those rivers before night. Our master gave us no 
dinner to day, but we halted a short time before sun- 
down, and got as mucli corn mush, and sour milk, 
as we could eat for supper. It was now the begin- 
ning of the month of May, and the weather, in the 
fme climate of Virginia, was very mild and pleasant ; 
so tiiat our master was not obliged to provide us with 
fire at nii^ht. 

From this time, to the end of our journey south- 
ward, wc all slept, promiscuously, men and women, 
on the lloors of sucn houses as we cluuKcd to stop 
at. We had no clothes except those we wore, and 
a few blankets ; the larger poition uf our gang be- 
iiiu- in vi{>ji< at \\ir, iihk; we crossed the Potomac. 
Two of the women were pregnant : the, one far ad- 
vanced — and she already complained of inability to 
keep pace with our march ; but her complaints were 
disregarded. We crossed the Rappahannock at 
Port Royal, and afterwards passed through the vil- 
lage of Bowling Green ; a place with which 1 be- 
came better acquainted in after times ; but which 
now presented the quiet so common to all the small 
towns in Virginia, and indeed in all the southern 
states. Time did not reconcile me to my chains, 
but it made me familiar with them ; and in a few 
days the horrible sensations attendant upon my cruel 
separation from my wife and children, in some mea- 
sure subsided ; and I began to reflect upon my 
present hopeless and desperate situation, with some 
degree of calmness ; hoping that I might be able to 
4* 



42 NARRATIVE OF THE 

devise some means of escaping from the hands of 
my new master, who seemed to place particular va- 
lue on me, as I could perceive from his conversation 
with such persons as we happened to meet at our 
resting places. I heard him tell a tavern-keeper where 
we halted, that if he had me in Georgia, he could get 
five hundred dollars for me ; but he had bought me 
for his brother, and he believed he would not sell 
me ; but in this he afterwards changed his opinion. 
I examined every part of our long chain, to see if 
there might not be some place in it at which it 
could be severed ; but found it so completely se- 
cured, that with any means in my power, its sepa- 
ration was impossible. From this time I endea- 
voured to beguile my sorrows, by examining the 
state of the country through which we were travel- 
ling, and observing the condition of my fellow-slaves, 
on the plantations along the high-road upon which 
we sojourned. 

We all had as much corn bread as we could eat. 
This was procured by our owner at the small dram 
shops, or ordinaries^ at which we usually tarried all 
night. In addition to this, we generally received a 
salt herring, though not every day. On Sunday, 
our master bought as much bacon, as, when divided 
amongst us, gave about a quarter of a pound to each 
person in our gang. 

In Calvert county, where I was born, the practice 
amongst slave-holders, was to allow each slave one 
peck of corn weekly, which was measured out every 
Monday morning ; at the same time each one re- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 43 

ceiving seven salt herrings. This formed the week's 
provision, and the master who did not give it, w^as 
called a hard master^ whilst those who allowed their 
people any thing more, were deemed kind and in- 
dulgent. It often happened, that the stock of salt 
herrings laid up by a master in the spring, was not 
sufficient to enable him to continue this rate of 
distribution through the year ; and when the fish 
failed, nothing more than the corn was dealt out. 
On the other hand, some planters, who had large 
stocks of cattle, and many cows, kept the sour milk, 
after all tlie cream had been skimmed from it, and 
made a daily distribution of this amongst the work- 
ing slaves. Some who had large apple orchards, 
gave their slaves a pint of cider each per day, 
through the autunui. It sometimes happened, too, 
in the lower counties of Maryland, that there was 
an allowance of pork, made to the slaves one day in 
each week; though on some estates this did not 
take place more than once in a month. This al- 
lowance of meat was disposed of in such a manner 
as to permit each slave to get a slice ; very often 
amounting to half a pound. The slaves were also 
permitted to w^ork for themselves at night, v nd on 
Sunday. If they chose to fish, they had the privi- 
lege of selling whatever they caught. Some expert 
fishermen caught and sold as many fish and oysters, 
as enabled them to buy cofiee, sugar, and other 
luxuries for their wives, besides keeping themselves 
and their families in Sunday clothes ; for, the mas- 
ters in Maryland only allowed the men one wool 



44 KARRATIVE OF THE 

hat, one pair of shoes, two shirts, two pair of trou- 
sers—one pair of tow cloth, and one of woollen — and 
one woollen jacket in the year. The w^omen were 
furnished in proportion. All other clothes they had 
to provide for themselves. Children not able to work 
in the field, were not provided with clothes at all, by 
their masters. It is, however, honourable to the 
Maryland slave-holders, that they never permit wo- 
men to go naked in the fields, or about the house ; 
and if the men are industrious and employ them- 
selves well on Sundays and holydays^ they can 
always keep themselves in comfortable clothes. 

In Yirgniia, it appeared to me that the slaves 
w^ere more rigorously treated than they were in my 
native place. It is easy to tell a man of colour who 
is poorly fed, from one who is well supplied with 
food, by his personal appearance. A half-starved 
negro is a miserable looking creature. His skin be- 
comes dry, and appears to be sprinkled over with 
whitish husks, or scales; the glossiness of his face 
vanishes, his hair loses its colour, becomes dry, and 
when stricken with a rod, the dust flies from it. 
These signs of bad treatment I perceived to be very 
common in Virginia ; many young girls who would 
have been beautiful, if they had been allowed enough 
to eat, had lost all their prettiness through mere 
starvation ; their fine glossy hair had become of a 
reddish colour, and stood out round their heads like 
lono^ brown wool. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



45 



CHAPTER IV. 

Our master at first expressed a determination to 
pass through the cily of ilichmond ; but for some 
reason, which he did not make known to us, he 
changed his mind, and drove us up the country, 
crossing the Matepony, North Anna and South Anna 
rivers. For several days we traversed a region, 
which had been deserted by the occupants— being 
no longer worth culture— and immense thickets of 
young red cedars, now occupied tire fields, in dig- 
ing of which, thousands of wietched slaves had 
worn out their lives in the service of merciless 
masters. 

In some places these cedar thickets, as they are 
called, continued for three or four miles together, 
without a house to enliven the scene, and with 
scarcely an original forest tree to give variety to the 
landscape. One day, in the midst of a wilderness 
of cedars, we came in view of a stately and venera- 
ble looking brick edifice, which, on nearer inspection, 
I discovered to be a church. On approaching it, 
our driver ordered us to halt, and dismounting from 
his horse, tied him to a young cedar tree, and sat 
himself down upon a flat tomb-stone, near the west 
end of the church, ordering us, at the same time, to 
sit down among the grass and rest ourselves. The 
grave yard in which we were now encamped, occu- 
pied about two acres of ground, w^hich was sur- 
rounded by a square brick wall, much dilapidatedj 



46 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and in many places broken down nearly to the 
ground. The gates were decayed and gone, but 
the gate-ways were yet distinct. The whole enclo- 
sure was thickly strewed with graves, many of 
w^hich were surmounted by beautiful marble slabs ; 
others were designated by plain head and foot stones ; 
whilst far the larger number only betrayed the rest- 
ing places of their sleeping tenants, by the simple 
mounds of clay, which still maintained their eleva- 
tion above the level of the surrounding earth. From 
the appearance of this burial place, I suppose no one 
had been interred there for thirty years. Several 
hollies', planted by the hands of friendship, grew 
amongst the hillocks, and numerous flowering shrubs 
and bushes, now in bloom, gave fragrance to the 
air of th*^. place. The cedars which covered the 
surrounding plain, with a forest impervious to the 
eye, had respected this lonely dwelling of the dead, 
and not one was to be seen within the walls. 

Though it was now the meridian of day in spring, 
the stillness of midnight pervaded the environs of 
this deserted and forsaken temple ; the pulpit, pews, 
and gallery of which were still standing, as I 
could perceive through the broken door-way, and 
maintained a freshness and newness of appearance, 
little according with the time-worn aspect of the ex- 
terior scenery. 

It was manifest that this earthly dweUing of the 
Most High, now so desolate and ruinous, was once 
the resort of a congregation of people, gay, fashion- 
able, and proud; who had disappeared from the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 47 

land, leaving only this fallen edifice, and these 
i^rassy tonihs, as the mementos of their existence. 
They had passed away, even as did the wandering 
red men, who roamed through the lofty oak forests 
which once shaded the ground where we now lay. 
As I sat musing upon the desolation that surrounded 
me, my mind turned to the cause which had con- 
verted a former rich and populous country, into the 
solitude of a deserted wilderness. 

The ground over which we had travelled, since 
we crossed the Potomac, had generally hcen a strong 
reddish clay, with an admixture of sand, and was of 
the same quality with the soil of the counties of 
(Jhester, Montgomery, and Bucks, in Pennsylvania. 
It had originally been liighly fertile and productive, 
and had it been properly treated, would doubtlessly 
have contiiuied to yield abundant and prolific crops ; 
but the gentlemen who became the early proprietors 
of this fine region, suj)plied themselves with slaves 
from Africa, cleared large plantations of many thou- 
sands of acres — cultivated tobacco — and became 
suddenly wealthy ; built spacious houses and nu- 
merous churches, such as this ; but, regardless of 
their true interest, they valued their lands less than 
their slaves, exhausted the kindly soil by unremitting 
crops of tobacco, declined in their circumstances, and 
finally gi-ew poor, upon the very fields that had 
formerly made their possessors rich ; abandoned one 
portion after another, as not worth planting any 
longer, and, pinched by necessity, at last sold their 
slaves to Georgian planters, to procure a subsistence ; 



48 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and when all was gone, took refuge in the wilds of 
Kentucky^ again to act the same melancholy drama, 
leaving their native land to desolation and poverty. 
The churches then followed the fate of their builders. 
The revolutionary war deprived the parsons of their 
legal support, and they fled from the altar which 
no longer maintained them. Virginia has become 
poor by the folly and wickedness of slavery, and 
dearly has she paid for the anguish and sufferings 
she has inflicted upon our injured, degraded, and 
fallen race. 

After remaining about two hours in this place, we 
again resumed our march ; and wretched as I was, 
I felt relieved when we departed from this abode of 
the spirit of ruin. 

We continued our course up the country west- 
ward, for two or three days, moving at a slow pace, 
and at length turning south, crossed James river, at 
a place about thirty miles above Richmond, as 1 
understood at the time. We continued our journey 
from day to day, in a course and by roads which 
appeared to me to bear generally about south-west, 
for more than four weeks, in which time we entered 
South Carohna, and in this state, near Camden, I 
first saw a field of cotton in bloom. 

I had endeavoured through the whole journey, 
from the time we crossed the Rappahannock river, 
to make such observations upon the country, the 
roads we travelled, and the towns we passed through, 
as would enable me, at some future period, to find 
my way back to Maryland. I was particularly 



in 

C 

nil 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 49 

carofnl to note the names of the towns and villages 
through which we passed, and to fix on my memory, 
not only the names of all the rivers, hut also the po- 
sition and Ijearin^- of the ferries over those streams. 

After leaving James river, I assumed an air of 
cheerfuhiess and even gaiety— 1 often told stories to 
my master of the manners and customs of the Mary- 
land planters, and asked him if the same usages pre- 
vail •.! ill Georgia, whither we were destined. By 
repcnfodly naming th«^ rivers that we came to, and 

thr order wliich we had reached ihcm, I was ahle 
U my .'urival in Georgia, to repeat the name of every 
onsi(leral)le stream from the Potomac to the Savan- 

h. and to tell at what ferries we had crossed them. 
1 afterwards found this knowIedg(; of great service 
to me ; indeed, witliout it I should never have been 
able to extricate myself from slavery. 

After leaving James river, our road led us south- 
west, through that region of country, which, in Vir- 
ginia and the Carolinas, they call the upper country. 
It lies between the head of the tides, in the great riv- 
ers, and the lower ranges of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains. I had. at that time, never seen a country 
cultivated by the labour of freemen, and consequent- 
ly, was not able to institute any comparison between 
the southern plantations, and the farms in Pennsyl- 
vania, the fields of which are ploughed and reaped 
by the hands of their owners ; but my recollection 
of the general aspect of upper Virginia and Carolina 
is still vivid. When contrasted with the exhausted 
and depopulated portion of Virginia, lying below the 
5 



50 NARRATIVE OF THE 

head of the tide, much of which I had seen, the 
lands traversed by us in the montli of May and 
early part of June, were indeed fertile and beautiful ; 
but when compared with what the same plantations 
would have been, in the hands of such farmers as I 
have seen in Pennsylvania, divided into farms of the 
proper size, the cause of the general poverty and 
weakness of the slave-holding states is at once seen. 
The plantations are large in the south, often in- 
cluding a thousand acres or more ; the population is 
consequently thin, as only one white family, beside 
the overseer, ever resides on one plantation. 

As I advanced southward, even in Virginia, I per- 
ceived that the state of cultivation became progres- 
sively worse. Here, as in Maryland, the practice of 
the best farmers who cultivate grain, of planting the 
land every alternate year in corn, and sowing it in 
wheat or rye in the autumn of the same year in 
which the corn is planted, and whilst the corn is yet 
standing in the field, so as to get a crop from the 
same ground every year, without allowing it time to 
rest or recover, exhausts the finest soil in a few years, 
and in one or two generations reduces the proprie- 
tors to poverty. Some, who are supposed to be very 
superior farmers, only plant the land in corn once 
in three years ; sowing it in wheat or rye as in the 
former case ; however, without any covering of clo- 
ver or other grass to protect it from the rays of the sun. 
The culture of tobacco prevails over a large portion 
of Virginia, especially south of James river, to the 
exclusion of almost every other crop, except corn. 



advp:ntuiies of charles ball. 51 

This destructive crop ruins the best land in a short 
time ; and in all the lower parts of ^Maryland and 
Virginia the traveller will see large old family man- 
sions, of weather-l^eaten and neglected appearance, 
standing in the middle of vast fields of many hun- 
dred acres, the fences of which have rotted away, 
and have been replaced by a wattled work in place 
of a fence, composed of short cedar stakes driven into 
the ground, alx)ut two feet apart, and standing about 
throe; fct't alK)ve tlie earth, the intervals i)eing filled 
up l)y l^ranch(\s cut from the cedar trees, and work- 
ed into the stakes horizontally, after the manner of 
splits in a basket. 

Many of these fields liave been abandoned alto- 
gether, and are overgrown by cedars, which spring 
up in infinite numljers almost as soon as a field 
ceases to be plouijhed, and furnish materials for 
fencing such parts of the ancient plantation as are 
still kept enclosed. In many places the enclosed 
fields are only partially cultivated, all the hills and 
poorest parts being given up to the cedars and chin- 
quopin bushes. These estates, the seats of families 
that were once powerful, wealthy, and proud, are 
universally destitute of the appearance of a barn, 
such as is known among the farmers of Pennsylva- 
nia. The out houses, stables, gardens, and offices, 
have fallen to decay, and the dwelling-house is occu- 
pied by the descendants of those who erected it, still 
pertinaciously adhering to the halls of their ancestry, 
with a half dozen or ten slaves, the remains of the 
two or three hundred who toiled upon these grounds 



52 NARRATIVE OF THE 

m former days. The residue of the stock has been 
distributed in marriage portions to the daughters of 
the family gone to a distance — have been removed 
to the west by emigrating sons, or have been sold to 
the southern traders, from time to time, to procure 
money to support the dignity of the house, as the 
land grew poorer, and the tobacco crop shorter, from 
year to year. 

Industry, enterprise, and ambition, have fled from 
these abodes, and sought refuge from sterility and 
barrenness in the vales of Kentucky, or the plains of 
Alabama; whilst the present occupants, vain of 
their ancestral monuments, and proud of an obscure 
name, contend with all the ills that poverty brings 
upon fallen greatness, and pass their lives in a con- 
test between mimic state and actual penury — too 
ignorant of agriculture to know how to restore 
fertihty to a once prohfic and still substantial soil, 
and too spiritless to sell their effects and search a new 
home under other skies. The sedge grass every 
where takes possession of the w^orn out fields, until it 
is supplanted by the chinquopin and the cedar. 
This grass grows in thick set bunches or stools, and 
no land is too poor for it. It rises to the height of 
two or three feet, and grows, in many places, in great 
profusion — is utterly worthless, either for hay or 
pasturage, but affords shelter to numerous rabbits, 
and countless flocks of partridges, and, at a short 
distance, has a beautiful appearance, as its elastic 
blue tops wave in the breeze. 

In Maryland and Virginia, although the slaves 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 53 

are treated with so much rigour, and oftentimes with 
so much cruelty, I hav^e seen instances of the great- 
est tenderness of feeling on the part of their owners. 
I myself had three masters in Maryland, and I can- 
not say now, even after having resided so many 
years in a state where slavery is not tolerated, that 
either of them (except the last, who sold me to the 
Georgians, and was an unfeeling man,) used me 
worse than they had a moral right to do, regarding 
me merely as an article of property, and not entitled 
to any rights as a man, political or civil. My mis- 
tresses, in Maryland, were all good women ; and the 
mistress of my wife, in whose kitchen I spent my 
Sundays and many of my nights, for several years, 
was a lady of most henevolent and kindly feelings. 
She was a true friend to me, and I shall always 
venerate her memory. 

It is now my opinion, after all I have seen, that 
there are no better-hearted women in the world, than 
the ladies of the ancient families, as they are called, 
in old Virginia, or the country below the mountains, 
and the same observations will apply to the ladies 
of Maryland. The stock of slaves has belonged to 
the family for several generations, and there is a 
kind of family pride, in being the proprietors of so 
many human beings, which, in many instances, 
borders on affection for people of colour. 

If the proprietors of the soil in Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, were skilful cidtivators — had their lands in 
good condition — and kept no more slaves on each 
estate than would be sufficient to work the soil in a 
5* 



54 NARRATIVE OF THE 

proper manner, and keep up the repairs of the 
place — the condition of the coloured people would 
not be, by any means, a comparatively unhappy 
one. I am convinced, that in nine cases in ten, the 
hardships and sufferings of the coloured population of 
lower Virginia, is attributable to the poverty and dis- 
tress of its owners. In many instances, an estate 
scarcely yields enough to feed and clothe the slaves 
in a comfortable manner, without allowing any 
thing for tlie support of the master and iamily ; but 
it is obvious, that the family must first be supported, 
and the slaves must be content with the surplus — 
and this, on a poor, old, worn out tobacco planta- 
tion, is often very small, and wholly inadequate to 
the comfortable sustenance of the hands, as they 
are called. There, in many places, nothing is allow- 
ed to the poor negro, but his peck of corn per week, 
without the sauce of a salt herring, or even a little salt 
itself. 

Wretched as may be the state of the negroes, in 
the quarter, that of the master and his w^ife and 
daughters, is, in many instances, not much more 
enviable in the old apartments of the oreat house. 
The sons and daughters of the family are gentle- 
men and ladies by birthright — and were the former 
to be seen at the plough, or the latter at the churn, 
or the wash tub, the honour of the family woukl be 
stained, and the dignity of the house degraded. 
People must and will be employed about something, 
and if they cannot be usefully occupied, they will most 
surely engage in some pursuit wholly unprofitable. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 55 

So it happens in Virginia — the young men spend 
their time in riding about the country, whilst they 
ought to be ploughing or harrowing in the corn- 
field ; and the young women are engaged in read- 
ing silly books, or visiting their neighbours' houses, 
instead of attending to the dairy, or manufacturing 
cloth for themselves and their brothers. During all 
this, the father is too often defending himself against 
attorneys, or making such terms as he can with the 
sheriif, for debts, in which he has been involved by 
the vicious idleness of his children, and his own 
want of virtue and courage, to break through the 
evil tyranny of old customs, and compel his offspring 
to learn, in early hfe, to procure their subsistence by 
honest and honourable industry. In this state of 
things there is not enough for all. Pride forbids the 
sale of the slaves, as long as it is possible to avoid it, 
and their meagre allowance of corn is stinted ra- 
ther than it sliall be said, the master w^as obliged to 
sell them. Somebody must suffer, and " self-preser- 
vation is the first law of nature," says the proverb — 
hunger must invade either the great house or the 
quarter, and it is but reasonable to suppose, that so 
unwelcome an intruder would be expelled, to the 
last moment, from the former. In this conflict of 
pride and folly, against industry and wisdom, the 
slave-holders have been unhappily engaged for more 
than fifty years. 

They are attempting to perform impossibilities — • 
to draw the means of supporting a Hfe of idleness, 
luxury, and splendour, from a once generous, but 



56 NARRATIVE OF THE 

long since worn out and exhausted soil — a soil, 
which, carefully used, would at this day have richly 
repaid the toils of the husbandman, by a noble abun- 
dance of all the comforts of life ; but which, tortured 
into barrenness by the double curse of slavery and 
tobacco, stands — and until its proprietors are regener- 
ated, and learn the difference between a land of 
slaves and a nation of freemen — must continue to 
stand, a inomimcnt of the poverty and punish- 
ment which Providence has decreed as the re- 
ward of idleness and tyranny. The general fea- 
tures of slavery are the same everywhere ; but the 
utmost rigour of the system is only to be met with 
on tlie cotton plantations of Carolina and Georgia, 
or ill the rice fields which skirt the deep swamps and 
morasses of the southern rivers. In the tobacco fields 
of Maryland and Virginia, great cruelties are prac- 
tised — not so frequently by the owners, as by the 
overseers of the slaves ; but yet, the tasks are not so 
excessive as in the cotton region, nor is the press of 
labour so incessant throughout the year. It is true, 
that from the period wlien the tobacco plants are set 
in the field, there is no resting time until it is housed ; 
but it is planted out about the first of May, and must 
be cut and taken out of the field before the frost 
comes. After it is hung and dried, the labour of 
stripping and preparing it for the hogshead in leaf, 
or of manufacturing it into twist, is comparatively a 
w^ork of leisure and ease. Besides, on almost every 
plantation the hands are able to complete the work 
of preparing the tobacco by January, and sometimes 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 57 

earii«'r; so that tlic winter nidiitlis form some sort 
of respite from tlie toils of the year. The people are 
obliged, it is true, to occupy themselves in cutting 
wood for the house, makinir rails and repairing fen- 
ces, and in clearing new land, to raise the tobacco 
plants for the next year ; but as there is usually tinie 
enough, and to spare, for the completion of all this 
work, before the season arrives for setting the plants 
in the field, the men arc seldom flogged nuich. un- 
less they are very lazy or negligent^ and the women 
arc allnwrd to remain in ilir hou^c in very cold, 
snowy, or rainy weather, i who am intimately ac- 
quainted with the slavery, both of 3laryland and 
VirEfinia, and know that there is no material dif- 
ference between the two, aver, that a description of 
one is a description of both ; and that the coloured 
people here have many advantages over those of the 
cotton region. There are seldom more than one 
hundred, of all ages and conditions, kept on one to- 
bacco planUition ; though there are sometimes many 
more ; but this is not frequent ; w hilst on the cotton 
estates, I have seen four or five hundred, working 
together in the same vast field. In ^laryland, the 
owners of the estates, generally, reside at home 
throughout the year ; and the mistress of the man- 
sion is seklom absent more than a few weeks in the 
winter, when she visits Baltimore or Washington. — 
the same is the case in Virginia. Her constant resi- 
dence on the estate makes her acquainted, person- 
ally, with all the slaves, and she frequently interests 
herself in their welfare, often interceding with the 



58 NARRATIVE OF THE 

master, her husband, to prevent the overseer from 
beating them unmercifully. 

The young ladies of the family also, if there be 
any, after they have left school, are generally at 
home until they are married. Each of them univer- 
sally claims a young black girl as her own, and takes 
her under her protection. This enables the girl to 
extend the protection and friendship of her young 
Qjiistress to her father, mother, brothers and sisters. 
The sons of the family likewise have their favourites 
among the black boys, and have many disputes with 
the overseer if he abuses them. All these advanta- 
ges accrue to the black people, from the circumstance 
of the master and his family living at home. In 
Maryland I never knew a mistress, or a young mis- 
tress, who would not listen to the complaints of the 
slaves. It is true, we were always obliged to ap- 
proach the door of the mansion, in the most humble 
and supplicating manner, with our hats in our hands, 
and the most subdued and beseeching language in 
our mouths — but, in return, we generally received 
w^ords of kindness, and very often a redress of our 
grievances ; though I have known very great ladies, 
who would never grant any request from the plan- 
tation hands^ but always referred them and their 
petitions to their master, under a pretence that they 
could not meddle with things that did not belong to 
the house. The mistresses of the great famihes, gen- 
erally gave mild language to the slaves ; though 
they sometimes sent for the overseer and had them 
severely flogged ; but I have never heard any mis^ 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. yO 

tress, in either Maryland or Virginia, indulge in the 
low, vulgar and profiine vitu|x rations, of w hich I 
was myself the object in Georgia, for several years 
whenever I came into the presence of my mistress. 
Flogging — though often severe and excruciating in 
Maryland, is not practised with the order, regularity, 
and system, to which it is reduced in the south. On 
the Potomac, if a slave gives olfence, he is generally 
chastised on the spot, in the fjeld where he is at 
work, as the overseer always carries a whip- some- 
times a twisted cow-hide, sometimes a kind (,f horse- 
whip, and very often a simple hickory switch or 
gad, cut in the adjoining wixhIs. For stealing meat, 
or other provisions, or for any of the hiirhfr oflences 
the slaves are stripped, tied up hy the hands— some- 
limes by the thuml»s--an(l whipprd at the (piarter 

l)Ut, many times, on a large toi)acco pl.inialion, there 
is not more than one of these regular whippings in a 
week— though on otliers, where ih<; master happens 
to i)e a had man. or a drunkard, the back of the un- 
happy Marylarid slave, is seamed with scars from 
his neck to his hips. 

It was my fortune, wiiilst I was a slave in Mary- 
land, always to have comparatively mild masters • 
and as I uniformly endeavoured to do whatever was 
held to be the duty of a good slave, according to the 
customs of the country, 1 was never tied up to be 
flogged there, and never received a blow from my 
master, after I was fifteen years old. I was never 
under the control of an overseer in Maryland ; or, 



60 NARRATIVE OF THE 

it is very likely that I should not have been aljle to 
give this account of myself. 

It is the custom of all the tobacco planters, in 
Maryland and Virginia, to plant a certain portion of 
their land in corn every year ; so much as they sup- 
pose will be sufficient to produce bread, as they term 
it, for the negroes. By bre id, is understood, a peck 
of corn per week, for each of their slaves. 

After my return from tiie navy-yard, at Wasliing- 
ton, I was generally employed in the culture of to- 
bacco ; but my attention was necessarily divided be- 
tween the tobacco and tlie corn. The corn crop is, 
however, only a matter of secondary consideration, 
as no grain, of any kind, is grown for sale, by the 
planters ; and if they raised as much, in my time, as 
supplied the wants of the people, and the horses of 
the stable, it was considered good farming. The 
sale of the tobacco was regarded as the only means 
of obtaining money, or any commodity which did 
not grow on the plantation. 

It is unfortunate for the slaves, that in a tobacco 
or cotton growing country, no attention whatever is 
paid to the rearing of sheep — consequently, there is 
no wool to make winter clothes for the people, and 
oftentimes they suffer, excessively, from the cold ; 
whereas, if their masters kept a good flock of sheep 
to supply them with wool, they could easily spin and 
weave in their cabins, a sufficiency of cloth to clothe 
them comfortably. 

As many persons may be unacquainted with the 
process of cultivating tobacco, a short account of the 



ADVEXTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 61 

growth of this plant, may not l)e uninteresting. The 
operation is to be commenced in the month of Feliru- 
ary, !)y clearing a piece of new lanil, anil burning 
the timber cut from it, on the ground, so as to form 
a coat of ashes over the whole r^pace, if |X)ssible. 
This ground is then to be dug up wit!i a hoe, and 
Uie sticks and roots are to be carefully removed from 
it. In this bed. the tobacco seeds are sown about the 
beginning of March, not in hills, or in rows, but by, 
broad cast, as in sowing turnips. The seeds do not 
spring soon, but generally the young plant aj)pears 
early in April. If the weather, at the time the tobac- 
co comes up, as it is called, is yet frosty, a covering of 
pine tops, or red cedar branches, is thickly spread 
over the whole patch, which consists of from one to 
four or five acres, according to the dimensions of the 
plantation to be prn\ idt'd uiih plants. As soon as 
tlie weather becomes fine, and lli«; yinmg tobacco be- 
gins to grow, the covering of the branches is remo- 
ved, and the bed is cxposeil to the rays of the sun. 
From this time, the patch must be carefull}' attend- 
ed, and kept clear of all grass and weeds. In the 
months of March and April the people are busily 
employed in plougliing the fields in which the to- 
bacco is to be planted in May. Immediately after 
the corn is planted, every one, man, woman, and 
child, able to work with a hoe, or carry a tobacco 
plant, is engaged in working up the whole planta- 
tion, already ploughed a second time, into hills about 
four feet apart, laid out in regular rows acrobs the 
field, by the course of the furrows. These hills are 
6 



%Z NARRATIVE OF THE 

formed into squares or diamonds, at equal distances, 
both ways, and into these are transplanted the to- 
/Y bacco plants from the beds in which the seeds were 
sown. This transplantation must be done when the 
earth is wet with rain, and it is best to do it, if pos- 
sible, just before, or at the time the rain falls, as cab- 
bages are tiansplanted in a kitchen garden ; but as 
the planting a field of one or two hundred acres, 
with tobacco, is not the work of an hour, as soon as 
it is deemed certam that there will be a sufficient fall 
of rain, to answer the purpose of planting out tobac- 
co, all hands are called to the tobacco field, and no 
matter how fast it may rain, or how violent the storm 
may be. the removal of the plants from the bed, and 
fixing them in the hills where they are to grow in 
the field, goes on, until the crop is planted out, or the 
rain ceases, and the sun begins to shiiie. Nothing 
but the darkness of night, and the short respite, re- 
quired by the scanty meal of the slaves, produces 
any cessation in the labour of tobacco planting, until 
the work is done, or the rain ceases, and the clouds 
disappear. Some plants die under the operation of 
removal, and their places are to be supplied from 
those left in the bed, at the fall of the next rain. 

Sometimes the tobacco worm appears amongst the 
plants, before their removal from the bed, and from 
the moment this loathsome reptile is seen, the plants 
are to be carefully examined every day, for the pur- 
pose of destroying any worms that may be found. 
It is, however, not until the plants have been set in 
the field, and have begun to grow and flourish, that 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 63 

the worms come forth in their full strength. If un- 
molested, they would totally destroy the largest field 
of tobacco in the months of June and July. At this 
season of the year, every slave that is able to kill a 
tobacco worm, is kept in the field, from morning un- 
til nis^ht. Those who are able to work with hoes, 
are engaged in weeding the tobacco, and at the same 
time destroying all the worms they find. The chil- 
dren do nothing but search for, and destroy the 
worms. All this labour and vigilance, however, 
would not suffice to keep the worms under, were it 
not for the aid of turkeys and ducks. On some large 
estates, they raise from one to two hundred turkeys, 
and as many ducks — not for the purpose of sale ; 
but for the destruction of tobacco worjiis. The 
ducks, live in the tobacco field, day and night, ex- 
cept when they go to water ; and as they are great 
gormandizers, they take from the plants and destroy 
an infinite number of worms. They are fond of 
them as an article of food, and require no watching 
to keep them in their place ; but it is otherwise with 
the turkeys. These require very peculiar treatment. 
They must be kept all night in a large coop spacious 
enough to contain the whole flock, with poles for 
them to roost on. As soon as it is light in the morn- 
ing, the coop is opened, the flock turned out, and 
driven to the tobacco field. 

Two hundred turkeys should be followed by four 
or five active lads, or young men, to keep them to- 
gether, and at their duty. One turkey will destroy 
as many wovms, as five men could do in the same 



64 NARRATIVE OF THE 

period of time ; but it seems that tobacco worms are 
not the natural food of turkeys ; and they are prone 
to break out of the fields and escape to the woods or 
pastures in search of grasshoppers, which they great- 
ly prefer to tobacco worms, for breakfast. However, 
if kept amongst the tobacco, they commit terrible 
ravages amongst the worms, and will eat until they 
are filled up to the throat. When they cease eating 
worms, they are to be driven back to the coop, and 
shut up, where they must have plenty of water, and 
a peck of corn to a hundred turkeys. If they get no 
corn, and are forced to live on tobacco worms only, 
they droop, become sickly, and would doubtlessly 
die. In the evening, they are again driven to the 
field, and treated again in the same manner as in 
the morning. 

The tobacco worm, is of a bright green colour, 
with a series of rings or circles round its body. I 
have seen them as large as a man's longest finger. 
I was never able to discover in what manner they 
originate. They certainly do not change into a but- 
terfly as some other worms do ; and I could never 
perceive that they deposit e eggs anywhere. I am of 
opinion that there is something in the very nature of 
the tobacco plant, which produces these nauseous 
reptiles, for they are too large, when at full growth, 
to be ranked with insects. 

Ill the month of August, the tobacco crop is laid 
by, as it is termed ; which means that they cease 
working in the fields, for the purpose of destroying 
the weeds and grass ; the plants having now become 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 65 

80 large, as not to be injured by the under vegetation. 
Still, however, the worms continue their ravages, 
and it is necessary to employ all hands in destroying 
them. In this month, also, the tobacco is to be top- 
ped, if it has not lx?en done before. When the 
plants have reached the height of two or three feet, 
accordinir to the G^oodnoss of the soil, and the vigour 
of the growth, the top i- to he rut olV, to prevent it 
from going to seed. This toppinj]^, causes all the 
powers of the plant, which would be exhausted in 
tlie foriiKition of llowcis and sTod>, to expand in 
leaves fit for use. Aft»a- the tobacco is fully grown, 
which in some plants happens early in August, it is 
to be carefully watched, to see when it is ripe, or fit 
for cutting. The state of the plant is known by its 
colour, and by certain pale spots which ap[)car on 
the leaves. It does not all arrive at maturity at the 
same time; and although some plants ripen early 
in August, others are not ripe before the middle of 
Septeml)er. When the plants are cut down, they 
are laid on the ground for a short time, then taken 
up. and the stalks split open to facilitate the lirying 
of the leaves. In this condition it is removed to the 
drying house, and there hung up under sheds, until 
it is fully dry. l^^rom thence it is removed into the 
tobacco house, and laid up in bulk, ready for strip- 
ping and manufacturing. 



06 NARRATIVE OF THE 



CHAPTER V. 



It is time to resume the narrative of my journey 
southward. At the period of which I now write, to- 
bacco was universally cultivated in those parts of 
Virghiia through which I travelled ; and that, with 
the corn crops, constituted nearly the whole objects 
of agricultural labour. 

The quantity of wheat and rye, which I saw on my 
journey, was very small. A little oats was growing 
on the estates of some gentlemen, who were fond of 
breeding fine horses. 1 did not perceive any mate- 
rial dilference in the condition of the country, as I 
passed south, until after crossing the Roanoke river. 
Near this stream we passed a very large estate, on 
which, there appeared to me, to be nearly a thousand 
acres of tobacco growing. Our master was inform- 
ed, by a gentleman whom we met here, that this 
property belonged to IMr. Randolph, a member of 
Congress, and one of the largest planters in A'irginia. 
The land appeared to me not to be any better than 
the tobacco lands in Maryland, though a little more 
sandy. The mansion house was low. and of ordi- 
nary appearance. The fields were badly fenced, and 
the whole place was in poor condition. We passed 
close by a gang of near a hundred hands — men and 
women, at work with hoes, in a tobacco field. I had 
not, in all Virginia, seen any slaves more destitute of 
clothes. Many of the men, and some of the young 
women, were without shirts ; and several young lads 



ADVENTTRF.S OF Cn.VIU.F.S T^VLT,. 07 

had only a few rzigs alxmt ihoir loins. 'Vhnr skina 
looked dry and liusky, which proved tliat they were 
nr)t well fed. They were followe«l hy an overseer 
who carried in his hand a kind of whip which I had 
never hefore seen : thouf^h I afterward hecanie fami- 
liar with this lerrihie wea|)on. South of the I^oan- 
oke, the land l)ecanie more sandy, and pine tiinl)er 
penerilly prevailed -in many places, to the exclu- 
sion of all other trees, fn N»)rth < 'arolina, the s.inie 
course of ctillure is jiursued. iia that which I have 
nndil ill Viri^inia; and the same disastrous consc- 
<Hien<<*^ result from it; thoui,'h, as the country has 
not h'^en seitlrd so long as the northern part of Vir- 
jjinii and Maryland so great a portion (A' tin- land 
lias not l)een worn out and ahandonrd in the for- 
mer, as in the latter. Here, also, tin; red cedar is 
seldom seen ; as the piich-pinc lakes jx)ssession of 
:'!l waste and deserted fields. In this state the 
hoii-<- are not so well huilt as they arc further 
north : there are fewer carriages, and the miniljcr 
of gixnl horses, judginir from those Isaw on tiie road, 
nni<t l>e much less. The iidiahitants of the country 
are plainer in their dress, and tln-y have fewer peo- 
ple of fashion, than are to !><• met in \'irLMiiia. The 
plantation- here were not so large as those I saw on 
tln^ north of the Roanoke ; hut larfrer tracts of coun- 
try are covered with wcmxI. than any I had hereto- 
fore seen. The ccjudilion of the slaves is not worse 
here, than it i< in Virginia ; nor is there any wheat 
in Carolina, worth speaking of. 

As we approached the Yadkin river, the tobacco 



68 NARRATIVE OF THE 

disappeared from the fields, and the cotton plant took 
its place, as an article of general culture. We pass- 
ed the Yadkin by a ferry, on Sunday morning ; and 
on the Wednesday following, in the evening, our 
master told us we were in the state of South Caro- 
lina. We staid this night in a small town called 
Lancaster ; and I shall never forget the sensations 
which I experienced this evening, on finding my- 
self in chains, in the state of South Carolina. From 
my earliest recollections, the name of South Carolina 
had l)ecn httle less terrible to me than that of the 
bottomless pit. In Maryland, it had always been 
the practice of masters and niistresses, who wished 
to terrify their slaves, to threaten to sell them to 
South Carolina ; where, it was represented, that 
their condition would be a hundred fold worse than 
it was in Maryland. 1 had regarded such a sale of 
myself, as the greatest of evils that could befall me, 
and had striven to demean myself in such manner, 
to my owners, as to preclude them from all excuse 
for transporting me to so horrid a place. At length 
I found myself, without having committed any 
crime, or even the slightest transgression, in the 
place and condition, of which I had, through life, 
entertained the greatest dread. I slept but little this 
night, and for the first time felt weary of life. It 
appeared to me that the cup of my misery w^as full — 
that there was no hope of release from my present 
chains, unless it might be to exchange them for the 
long lash of the ov. rseers of the cotton plantations ; 
in each of whose hands I observed such a whip as 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES HALL. ♦')!> 

I > i\v ill |x>««essi(»n «>f Mr. ll^iiuMpli'd slavr drivor 
111 \ irjinii. I .««Ti»>iHlv in«M!ilalo«l on srll-dfslriK - 
tinri. .111(1 had 1 Iweii al lUx-riy lo \;vi a ro|>o. I Mw\c 
I li.MiK! have haiigod myself al liancahtn. Ii ap 
jMMrfd to ine tJiai '»nrli an art, liono l>y a niaii in my 
Hiiiiation. could nol lie a violaiioii «»r ili«' pirrrpts ot 
roliirion, nor of llir lawn of Ciod. 

I lirul now no ho|H» of ever a^ain s^efinijf my wifo 
:ir»r! rhiltlrrn. or of revisiiinij llic scenes* of my youth. 
I apjir.'hrii |.mI that I sUndd, il i lived, suffer the 
mosl excrucialinflj f^ngs iliai extreme and lon^ con- 
limiod huniTpr roiili! inllirt ; for I had oftrn lirard, 
that ill Siuilh ( 'arolina, llir nlaves were coinj)«ll««l in 
iiiiH»s of scarcity, to live on cotton seeds. 

Fnmi tin* drfadfiil apprt-hm^ions of future evil, 
whi<h harra-..s€^d and harrowed my mind lint night, 
I do not marvel, ihal ihc slaves who are driven lo 
the '<oulh often «l»'-<tr«»y themMplvc-*. Self-deMiruc- 
ti«»u i-« much mue fre()ucnt aiuoni^ the slaves in the 
cotton rejjiun than is generally supjjosed. When a 
ne^o kills liim»«df, the master is unwillin*^' to l«:t it 
be known, lest ihe deed should U' altrihul<fl to his 
own cruelty. A certain degree of di>«;race fall.-* u|)on 
the master whose si ivr h i"» committed suicitle — and 
the -iiiio man, who would stand by, and see his 
ovf ~ '. r unve his slave a hundred lashes, with the 
long whip, on his l3are Ijack, without mauif»3riting 
the least pity for the sutTeriuirs of the pfK)r tortured 
wretch, will express very profound rejret if the saim; 
plave terminates his own life, to avoid a re()etiiion of 
the horrid flogging. Suicide among^st the slaves is 



70 NARRATIVE OF THE 

regarded as a matter of dangerous example, and one 
which it is the business and the interest of all pro- 
prietors to discountenance and prevent. All the ar- 
guments which can be devised against it are used to 
deter the negroes from the perpetration of it ; and 
such as take this dreadful means of freeing them- 
selves from their miseries, are always branded in 
reputation after death, as the worst of criminals; 
and their bodies are not allowed the small portion 
of Cliristian rites which aie awarded to the corpses 
of other skives. 

Surely if any thing can justify a man in taking 
his life into his own hands, and terminating his ex- 
istence, no one can attach blame to the slaves on 
many of th(3 cotton plantations of the south, when 
they cut sliort their breath, and the agonies of the 
present being, by a single stroke. What is life worth, 
aniiilst hunger, nikedness and excessive toil, un- 
der the continnally uplifted lash? 

It was long after nndnight before I fell asleep ; but 
the most pleasant dreams succeeded to these sorrow- 
ful forebodings. I thought I had, by some means, 
escaped from my master, and through infmite and 
unparalleled dangers and sufferings, had made my 
way back to Maryland ; and was again in the cabin 
of my wife, with two of my little children on my lap ; 
whilst their mother was busy in preparing for me a 
supper of fried fish, such as she often dressed, when 
I was at home, and had taken to her the fish I had 
caught m the Patuxent river. Every object was so 
vividly impressed upon my imagination in this 



ADVF.NTURKS OF rilARLKS MAI.L. , I 

dream, thai nv1j»mi I awoke, a firm conviction settled 
ii[^ui my mind, thai by t*om«' means at pnxMii in- 
«-<»m|)relien«ilile to me, I shonld yei auain ♦Mnhrare 
niy wife, and caress my children m their hunihle 
ilwellini^. I^arly in ihe morninir, our niaslrr called 
M-: up; and db^iriluiled lo c;ich of the |Kirly a aikc 
made of corn meal, and a small piece of bacon. 
< )n our journey, we had only ealcn twice a day, 
md had not n-ecived hreakfasl until alxnit nine 

I « lock ; hut \\r said this morninrr nieal was r^iven 
;o welcome lis* to 8oulli Carolina. He then addres- 
si*d us all, and tol I us we micht now irive np all 
lic»jx» of ever returning? to the places of our nativity ; 

i-" it wouM lie im|)os!<iblc for us to pass tliimiLrli ilie 
<l:itrsof North Carolina and Viririnia, withdui \tr\\nr 
taken up and sent U'i« k. lie further advisrd us lo 
make ourselve?? content'^), as he would take us lo 
(Icori^ia.a far liettrr coimtry than any we had seen ; 

uid where we would Ih! able to live in the greatest 

abundanee. AImmiI sunrise we look up our njarch 
on the road toCohunbia as we were told. Hitherto 
our ma^'ler had not offereil to sell any of us. and 
had evrn reliiseti lo sioj» to talk to any one on tfic 
subject o( our sale, although he had several times 
l>een addrrss^id on this |KMnl. U'ftire we rmchrd I,.ui- 
«-asl«'r; but ?oon after we drparted from lliis village, 
we were overtaken on the road by a man on horse- 
back, who accosted our driver by a.skin<r him if his 
ni^a-i^'-crs were for sale. The latter re[)licd, that he 
believed he would not sell any yet. as he was on his 
way to Georgia, and cotton being now mu< h in de- 



72 NARRATIVE OF THE 

mand, he expected to obtain high prices for us from 
persons wlio were going to settle in the new pur- 
chase. He, however, contrary to his custom, order- 
ed us to stop, and told the stranger he might look at 
us, and that he would find us as fine a lot of hands, 
as were ever imported into the country— that we 
were all prime property, and lie had no doubt would 
command his own prices in Georgia. 

The stranger, who was a tliiii, woathcr-boaten, 
sun-burned figure, then said, he wanted a couple of 
breeding-wenches, and would give as much for them 
as they would bring in Georgia— that he had lately 
iieard from Augusta, and tliat ni^g-ers were nothigh- 
er there than in Columbia, and, as he had been in 
Columbia the week before, he knew what niggers 
were worth. He then walked along our line, as 
we stood chained together, and looked at the whole 
of us— then turning to the women, asked the prices 
of tbe two pregnant ones. Our master replied, that 
ihese were two of tbe best breeding-wenches in all 
.Maryland — that one was twenty-two, and tbe other 
only nineteen — that the first was already the mother 
of seven children, and the other of four— that he had 
himself seen tlie childnn at the time he bought their 
mothers — and that such wenches would be cheap at 
a thousand dollars each ; but as they were not able 
to keep up with the gang, he would take twelve 
hundred dollars for the two. The purchaser said 
this was too much, but that he would give nine 
hundred dollars for the pair. This price was 
promptly refused ; but our master, after some con- 



ADVENTITRKS np CHARLES BALL. 73 

sideralion. saui he was willintr lo sell a iKiruain in 

\v«Mirlip-!, aiitl would lake rlcvcn IniiiduHl 

^ f.)r th'Mu. Nvlntli \va.-< ol>|orl«'<l lo on lln^ other 

8i(l«» : and imiiy f.nilis and failinir-j nvit^ |)i)iiiiiHl 

otii in the niorrliandbio. Afirr nuirli iKirirainnii:, 

and many ^rosH jrslM on the jKiri of iho siran'^er, 

}>♦» olTiTcti a thousand dollars for ihc two ; and said 

]\rt would irivc no inoir. Hi* then niounicd his 

* - and movodofT; but afliT lie had gone al>out 

ii'm<lro4l vanK he wa.*» callwi \ytick \ and our 

r *«iid, if he would jjo wiih hiui to ihe next 

'■ ', oil the ro.id lo Colunihia, and pay 

I' olTlhe re-^t of ih, h'» nii'^hl liavc 

ihc two women. 

'VUU pr ■ I to, and a^ u w.'i^ now 

ii>out nin •• or«l«'rrd to hasle^n on to 

ihe next hou*<c, where, we wer«^ i "l»l, uo must stop 
f«>r hrenkfa^t. At thi>5 pi ire \\r w«'re nil'ornitd that 
It was ten miles to the in'Xl smith h shop, and our 
new aapiaintance was ohlij^ed hy the terms of his 
roninict, to acrompany us thiiln-r. We receivfxl, 
tor breakfast, aUjut a pint of \xnU^\ rice to each per- 
.»n, an<i after this wa-s despatched, we apain t<x>k to 
the nxid, eai^r to reach the blakfimith's shop, at 
whi.h we expfi'ted to Ixj relieved oi* thr irof) rings 
and ihains, whirh had so loni.^ ijalled and worried 
us. Ai>out two o'clock, we arrived at the loni^etl-for 
resideMire of the smith ; but, on inquiry, our ma-ster 
was informed that he was not at home, and would 
not return before evcnini^. Here a controversy 
aro-^e. whether we should all remain here until the 
7 



74 KARRATIVi: CF TOK 

auiih returned, or the stranger should gt) on wkh us 
to the next sniiihery. which was said lo t-e only five 
miles distant. This was a point not easily settled. 
between two such spirits as our master and the stran- 
ger; both of whom had been overseers in their time. 
and both of whom had risen to the rank of proprietors 
trf" dares. 

The mauer had already produced angry words. 
and much vaunting on the pan of the stranger ; — 
-that a freeman oi South Carolina was not to be 
imposed upon : that by the constitution of the state. 
his rights were sacred, and he was not to be deprived 
of his hbeny, at the ar'Diirary will of a man just from 
amoQSst the Yankees, and who had brought with 
him to the south, as many Yankee tricks as he had 
nis'S'ers, and he believed many more.** He then 
swore, that -all the niggers in the drove were 
Yankee niggers." 

^ When i orerseed for Colonel Polk.** said he. 
" on he rice plantation, he had two Yankee niggers 
that he brought from Maryland, and they were run- 
ning away every day. I gave them a hundred 
lashes m«xe than a dozen times : but they never quit 
i Tinningr awav. till I chained them tf^ether. with ircm 
coUais round their necks, and chained them to spades. 
and made them do nothing but dig ditches to drain 
the rice swamps. They could not run away then, 
imles they went together, and carried their chains 
and spades with them. 1 kept them in this way two 
years, and better niggers 1 nev^ had. One of 
them died one niffhu and the other was never eood 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 75 

for any thing after h<; lost hU mate. He never ran 
away afterwards, bm he dietl too. after a while." He 
then addressed himself to the two women, wh»)se 
mx'^ter he had become, and told them that if ever 
ihfy ran away, he would treat them in the same 
way. Wretched a^ I was myself, my heart bled 
fi)r these poor creatnres, who had fallen into the 
hands of a tii^pr in human form. The dispute be- 
tween the two rFiasters was still raifinir, when, unex- 
pectedly, the blarksmith rode up to las house, on a 
thin, Ixmy-looking horse, and, dismounting, asked 
his wife what theso jrentlcmen were makinu such a 
frolirk alx)ut. I did not hear her answer, but Ixnh 
the disputants turned and addrf^*^d themselves to 
the smith —the one to know what j>rice he would 
demand, to Lake the irons oflf all ih**se nifsL'^erSy 
and the other to know how Ion? it would take him 
to perform tho work. It is here proper for me to 
obs«'rve, that there are many phrases of language in 
common use in Carolina and Georgia, which are 
applied in a way thit would not l>e understood by 
persons from one of the northern states. Fnr in- 
stance, when several persons are quarrelling, brawl- 
in?, making a i^reat noise, or even fighting, ihev 
say. ^' the srentlcmen are frolicK'in^ !'^ I lu-ird 
many other terms equally strange, whilst I rc-id^ tl 
in the southern coimtry, amongst such white people 
as 1 bec-ame acquainted with : though mv acquaint- 
ance was confined, in a great measure, to overseers, 
and such people as did not associate with the rich 
planters and great families. 



76 NARRATIVE OF THE 

The smith at length agreed to take the irons 
from the whole of us for two dollars and fifty cents, 
and immediately set about it, with the air of indif- 
ference that he would have manifested in tearing a 
pair of old shoes from the hoofs of a wagon-horse. 
It was four weeks and five days, from the time m]f 
irons had been riveted upon me, until they were 
removed, and great as had been my sufferings 
whilst chained to my fellow-slaves, I cannot say that 
I felt any pleasure in being released from my long 
confinement; for I knew that my liberation was 
.only preparatory to my final, and, as I feared, per- 
petual suV)jugation to the power of some such mon- 
ster, as the one then before me, who was preparing 
to drive away the two unfortunate women whom he 
had purchased, and whose life's-blood he had ac- 
quired the power of shedding at pleasure, for the 
sum of a thousand dollars. After we were released 
from our chains, our master sold the whole lot of 
irons, which we had borne, from Maryland, to the 
blacksmith, for seven dollars. 

The smith then procured a bottle of rum, and 
treated his two new acquaintances to a part of its 
contents— wishing them both good luck with their 
niggers. After these civilities were over, the two 
women were ordered to follow their new master, 
who shaped his course across the country, by a road 
leading westward. At parting from us, they both 
wept aloud, and wrung their hands in despair. 
We all went to them, and bade them a last fare- 
well. Their road led into a wood, which they soon 



ADVf.NTURKS OF CHARLES BALL. 77 

entered, and 1 never saw them, nor heard of them 
again. 

These woinrn had lx)th been driven from Calvert 
connty, as well as niv>»'lf. and thr fafe of theyonnu^- 
er of ihr two. was pfcidiarly soveK-. 

Sho had been lironirht np as the wailini; maul of 
a yonni^ I'ldy, the danLrhter of a ijentlcnian, whose 
wife and family often visit.^d the nuj^lressof my own 
wife. I had frecjiiently seen this woman when she 
was a younj^ jjirl, in attendance n|>on her yoim<]f 
mistress, and ridin<j^ in the same carriage with her. 
The father of llie yonnir lady died, and soon after, 
she married a irj-ntleman who resid(Ml a few miles 
oir. The husband received a considerable fortune 
with his bride, and amongst other things, her wait- 
ing-maid, who was ri'putrd a ixreat beauty among 
jKiople of colour. lie had Iwen addicted to the 
fiishionable spDrtd of the country, iKjfore marriage, 
such as horse-racing, fox-huntinir, vfcc. and I had 
heard the black jXNiple say he drank too freely : but 
it was supposed that In* would corr^'ct all these irreg- 
ularities after marriatre, more especially as his wife 
was a great Ixjlle, and withal very handsome. The 
reverse, however, turned out to Ut the fact. Instead 
of growing better, he became worse; and in the 
course of a few years, was known all over the coun- 
try, as a drunkard and a gambler. His wife, it was 
said, died of grief, and soon after her death, his ef- 
fects were seized by his creditors, and sold by the 
sheriff. The former waiting-maid, now the mother 
of several children, was purchased by our present 
7* 



78 NARRATIVE OF THE 

master, for three hundred dollars, at the sheriff's sale, 
and this poor wretch, whose employment in early 
life had been to take care of her young mistress, and 
attend her in her chamber, and at her toilet, after 
being torn from her husband and her children, had 
now gone to toil out a horrible existence beneath 
the scorching sun of a South Carolina cotton field, 
under the dominion of a master, as void of the 
Manners of a gentleman, as he was of the language 
of humanity. 

It was now late in the afternoon ; but, as we had 
made little progress to-day, and were now divested 
of the burden of our chains, as well as freed from 
the two women, who had hitherto much retarded 
our march, our master ordered us to hasten on our 
way, as we had ten miles to go that evening. I 
had been so long oppressed by the weight of my 
chains, and the iron collar about my neck, that for 
some time after 1 commenced walking at my natu- 
ral liberty, I felt a kind of giddiness, or lightness of 
the head. Most of my companions complained of 
the same sensation, and we did not recover our pro- 
per feelings, until after we had slept one night. It 
was after dark when we arrived at our lodging-place, 
which proved to be the house of a small cotton- 
planter, who, it appeared, kept a sort of a house of 
entertainment for travellers, contrary to what I after- 
wards discovered to be the usual custom of cotton- 
planters This man and my master had known 
each other before, and seemed to be well acquaint- 
ed. He was the first person that we had met since 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES PALL. /^ 

leaving Maryland who was known to my master, 
and as they kept up a very free conversation, tlirough 
the course of tlic evening, and the house in which 
they were, was only separated from the kitchen, in 
which we were lodixrd, hy a space of a few feet, I 
had an opportunity of hrariuix much (hat was 
highly intrr«>(ing to me. 'V\]o JaiHlJord, after sup- 
per, came, wiili our master to look at us, and to see 
us receive our allowance of hoilrd rice from the hands 
of a couple of black women, who had prepared it in 
a large iron kettle. Whilst viewing us, the former 
asked the latter, what he intended to do w ith his 
drove; hut no reply was made Uj this inipiiry— and 
as our master h:id, through our whole journey, 
maintained a studied silence on this suljject, I felt a 
great curiosity to know what disposition he intended 
to make of the whole irang, and of myself in parti- 
cular. On their niuin to ilie house. I .'ulvanced to 
a small window in the kitchen, which hrought me 
within a few yards of the place where they sat, and 
from wliicji I wasahlt! to hear all they said, although 
they spoke in a low tone of voice. 1 here learned, 
that so many of us as could be sold for a good (jrice, 
were to be dis|K)sed of in Columbia, on our arrival 
at that place, and that the residue would be driven 
to Augusta and sold there. 

The landlord assured my master that at this time 
slaves were much in demand, both in Columbia and 
Augusta ; that purchasers were numerous and pri- 
ces good ; and that the best plan of ellecting good 
Bales would be to put up each nigger, separately, at 



80 NARRATIVE OF THE 

auction, after giving a few days' notice, by an ad- 
vertisement, in the neighbouring country. Cotton, 
he said, had not been higher for many years, and as 
a great many persons, especially young men, were 
moving off to the new purchase in Georgia, prime 
hands were in high demand, for the purpose of 
clearing the land in the new country— that the 
boys and girls, under twenty, would bring almost 
any price at present, in Columbia, for the purpose of 
picking the growing crop of cotton, which promised 
to be very heavy ; and as most persons had planted 
more than their hands would be able to pick, young 
nin-g-ers, who would soon learn to pick cotton, were 
prime articles in the market. As to those more ad- 
vanced in life, he seemed to think the prospect of 
selling them at an unusual price, not so good, as 
they could not so readily become expert cotton- 
pickers— he said further, that from some cause, 
which he could not comprehend, the price of rice 
had not been so good this year as usual ; and 
that he had found it cheaper to purchase rice to feed 
his own niggers than to provide them with corn, 
which had to be brought from the upper country. 
He therefore, advised my master, not to drive us 
towards the rice plantation of the low country. 
My master said he would follow his advice, at 
least so far as to sell a portion of us in Carolina, 
but seemed to be of opinion that his prime hands 
would bring him more money in Georgia, and 
named me, in particular, as one who would be 
worth, at least, a thousand dollars, to a man who 



ADVFNTUIIKS OF CHARLES 13 ALL. 



81 



was al)OUt making a sottlement. aiul chvarini: a 
plaiuation in the new pnri'hasc. I therefore con- 
cUidrd, that in the course of event;?, I was hkc- 
ly to become the property of a Georgian, whirh 
turned out in the end, to he the cane, though not 
so soon as I at this time apprehended I blept l)Ut 
little this niirht, frehnij a restless^ness when no long- 
er in chains: and pondering over thr future lot of 
my life, which appeareil frau'jht only wilh evil and 
mi-fortime. Day at lenijlh dawneil, and with its 
l\v>{ liuHu wc were ordered Uj \wiakc ourselves to the 
roiul, which, we were t(»l«l, woulti lead us to Colum- 
bia, the place of intended sale of some, if not all of 
us. For several days past, I had ol»s<'rve<l tli'it lu 
the country throuixh which we travillcd, liille allen- 
tion was paid to the cidtivatitin of any thing hut 
cotton. Now this plant was almost the sole possessor 
of the fields. It covered the plant.itions atljacent to 
thf road, as far as I could seo, both before and be- 
hind me, and looked not unlike buckwheat l)efore it 
blossoms. I saw some small fields of corn, and lots 
of sweet potati^s, amongst which the young vines 
of the water-melon w«Tr iVequcutly visibU?. The 
im|)rovements on ilit; plantations were not good. 
There were no barns, but only stables and sheds, to 
put the cotton under, as it was brought from the 
field. Hay seemed to be unknown in the country, 
for I saw neither hay-stacks nor meadows ; and the 
few fields that were lying fallow, had but small num- 
bers of cattle in them, and these were thin and 
meagre. We had met with no flocks of sheep 



82 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of late, and the hogs that we saw on the road-side, 
were in bad condition. The horses and mules that 
I saw at work in the cotton-fields, were poor and 
badly harnessed, and the half-naked condition of the 
negroes, who drove them, or followed with the hoe, 
together with their wan complexions, proved to me 
that they had too much work, or not enough food. 
We passed a cotton-gin this morning, the first that 
I ever saw ; but they were not at work with it. We 
also met a party of ladies and gentlemen on a jour- 
ney of pleasure, riding in two very handsome car- 
riages, drawn by sleek and spirited horses, very diller- 
ent in appearance from the moving skeletons that 
I had noticed drawing the ploughs in the fields. 
The black drivers of the coaches were neatly clad 
in gay-coloured clothes, and contrasted well with 
their half-naked brethren, a gang of whom were 
hoeing cotton by the road-side, near them, attend- 
ed by an overseer in a white linen shirt and pan- 
taloons, with one of the long negro whips in his 
hand. 

I observed that these poor people did not raise 
their heads, to look either at the fine coaches and 
horses then passing, or at us ; but kept their faces 
steadily bent towards the cotton-plants, from among 
which they were removing the weeds. I almost 
shuddered at the sight, knowing, that I myself was 
doomed to a state of servitude, equally cruel and 
debasing, unless, by some unforeseen occurrence, I 
might fall into the hands of a master of less inUu- 



ADVF.NTrRKS OF CHARLKS HALL. S3 

manity of t»Mi)|><'r llian i\ic oiu* who had possctijion 
of ilie miserable creatures before me. 



If was inaiiifj-si, that I was no 
where the hfe of a blark man was no more regard- 
ed than iliai of an ox, except im far as the man 
was worth the more money in llie market. On all 
the plantations that we pas.<ed, there was a want of 
lue sto<:k of every de^-riptioi], except «laves, and 
I hey were (le[)lorahly abundant. 

The fields were destitute of every iliiiiLT that dr 
M-rved the name of ^rass, and not a spear of clover 
was anywhere visible. 'I'he f«'w cattle that existed, 
were browsing on (he IxniLdi- of ih** trees, in the 
W(kk1s. liVery thin*,' U'lraytd a scarcity of the 
jneans of supplyini^ the slaves, who cultivated the 
vast cotton-fields, u ilh a sulliciency of \\xh\. \Vc 
travelled this day more than thirty miles, and crossed 
the Catawba river in the aftcrno<jn, on the bottoms 
of which I saw, for the first time, fields of rice, grow- 
ing in swamp-, covered with water. Causeways 
were raised through the low-lands in which the rice 
grew, and on these, the road was formed on w Inch 
we travelled. These rice-ficlds, or rather swam[)3, 
had, in my eyes, a beautiful appearance. The 
rice was nearly two feet in height alx)ve the water, 
and of a vivid green colour, covering a large space, 



84 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of at least a hundred acres. Had it not been for the 
water, which appeared stagnant and sickly, and 
swarmed with frogs and thousands of snakes, it 
woukl have been as fine a sight as one need wish 
to look upon. After leaving the low grounds along 
the river, we again entered plantations of cotton, 
which hned the roads on both sides, relieved, here 
and there, by corn-fields, and potato-patches. We 
stopped for the night at a small tavern, and our 
master said we were within a day's journey of Co- 
lumbia. 

We here, again, received boiled rice for supper, 
without salt, or any kind of seasoning ; a pint was 
allotted to each person, which we greedily devoured, 
having had no dinner to-day, save an allowance of 
corn-cakes, with the fat of about five pounds of ba- 
con, extracted by fiying, in which we dipped our 
bread. I slept soundly after this day's march, the 
fatigues of the body having, for once, overcome the 
ao-itations of the mind. The next dav, which was, 
if my recollection is accurate, the ninth of June, was 
the last of our journey before our company separa- 
ted ; and we were on the road before the stars had 
disappeared from the sky. Our breakfast, this 
morning, consisted of bacon soup, a dish composed 
of corn meal, boiled in water, with a small piece of 
bacon to give tlie soup a taste of meat. For dinner 
we had boiled Indian peas, with a small allowance 
of bacon. This was the first time that we had re- 
ceived two rations of meat in the same day, on the 
whole journey, and some of our party were much 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 85 

flurprised at the kiiuliioss of our master : l»ut I liad 
no doubt that his oltjrct was to make ns l(H)k tat and 
h«!arty, to enal»lc him tn obtain N-lter [)rices for us at 
Cohnnbia. 

At supficrtliis uii^hl. we had corn nuish, in lari^e 
wixxlcn trays, with melu-d lard to dip the nuish in 
l)oft)re eatinij it. We niiijht have reached C'nhmi 
bia tins (hiy if we had continued our march, l»uf 
we sl(»p[>ed, at least an hour l)cfore sun-set, alK)iit 
tlu«*e nnl«*H from town, at the hou.«e of a man who 
supjxjric<l ihc double character of planter, and keeper 
of a house of entertainment ; for I learned from his 
slaves that lh»ir maslrr considered if disreput(d»le to 
be cailrd a lavrrn-kerpn . and umild nn! put up a 
si'j'M, allb.Miudi he recrivcd pay of smb [x-rsnns as 
l..d;^r,»,i ^vilh bun. Hh hou-e was a fratnt- buiidiiiir, 
wjjather-boiirdtd with pine Uxml-', but bad no plas- 
irriii^: within. The furniture ci)rres|>i)nded with 
ibtj bouso which coniainril it, and was both scanty 
and mean, cousisiiuL,^ of pin*- tablrs and wooden 
chairs, with bottoms made of corn imsks. 'I'be 
house was only one story hijrh, and all the rooms, 
six or seven in numlx'r, [larlour, be(l-room.«», and 
kitchen, were «)n the first lloor. As the weather 
was warm and the windows open, 1 had an oppor- 
tuniiv of loukiui^ into the sleeping rooms of the fa- 
mily, as I walked round the house, whicli I was 
permiiied freely to do. The beds and their furniture 
answered well to the chairs and tables ; yet in the 
larije front room I ol)served on an old fashioned side- 
board, a great (quantity of glass ware, of various de- 
8 



86 NARRATIVE OF THE 

scriptions, with two or three dozen silver spoons, a 
silver tea urn, and several knives and forks with 
silver handles. In the corner of this room stood a 
bed with gaudy red curtains, with figures of lions, 
elephants, naked negroes, and other representations 
of African scenery. 

The master of the house was not at home when 
we arrived, but came in from iIjc field shortly after- 
wards. He met my master with the cordiality of an 
old friend, though he had never seen him before, 
said he was happy to see him at his house, and that 
the greatest pleasure he enjoyed was derived from 
the entertainment of such gentlemen as thought 
proper to visit his house ; that he was always glad 
to see strangers, and more especially gentlemen who 
were adding so much to the wealth and population 
of Carolina, as those merchants who imported ser- 
vants from the north. He then observed that he 
had never seen a finer lot of property pass his house 
than we were, and that any gentleman who brought 
such a stock of hands into the country was a public 
benefactor, and entitled to the respect and gratitude 
of every friend of the south. He assured my master 
that he was happy to see him at his house, and that 
if he thought proper to remain a few days witli him, 
it would be his chief business to introduce h m f< he 
gentlemen of the neighbourhood, who would all be 
glad to become acquainted with a merchant of his 
respectability. In the state of Maryland, my mas- 
ter had been called a negro hvyer^ or Georgia 
trader^ sometimes a negro driver ; but liCre, I 



ADVKNTURFS OF CHARLES BALL. 87 

found that he was elevated to the rank of merchant, 
and a merchant of the firnt order t«K) ; for it was 
vrry clear that in the opinion of the landlord, no 
hranrh of trade was more honourable than ihr iratVic 
in us p(K)r nlaves. Our master observed that he 
had a mind to remain here a short time, and try 
wli It kind of market Columbia would proent, for the 
sale of hi.-< lot <»f bervanl-s ; and that he would make 
this house his home, imtil he had ascertained what 
couM l)e (lone in town, and what demand there waa 
in the neii^hlxuirhood for servants. We were not 
calird shivrs by these men, who tidked of selling 
us, and of the price we would brini,', with as little 
compunction of conscience as liiry would have 
udked t)f thr sale of so many mul«'s. 

It is the custom ihroui^hout all the slave-holding 
states, amonpsi j)ei)ple of fashion, never to s|)eak of 
their neirrijcs as slaves, but always as servants ; but 
I had never In-fore met with the kee|HT of a public 
house, in the country, who had arrived at ihis degree 
of refmefuent. I had Inien accustonunl to lunir this 
order of men, and mdced the grcaU^r mnnl>cr of 
white people, sjxjak of the |>eoplc of colour as 7ti^- 
ffers. We remained at this place more than two 
weeks ; I presume lx3cause my master found it 
chea{)er to keep us here than in town, or perhaps, 
because lie supposed we might recover from tlie hard- 
ships of our journey more speedily in the country. 

As it was here that my real accjuainLance with 
South Carolina commenced, I have noted, with more 
particularity the incidents that occurred, than I other- 



88 NARRATIVE OF THE 

wise should have done. This family was composed 
of the husband, wife, three daughters, all young 
women, and two sons, one of whom appeared to be 
about twenty, and the other, perhaps seventeen years 
old. They had nine slaves in all, one very old man, 
quite crooked with years and labour — two men of 
middle age— one lad, perhaps sixteen—one woman, 
with three children, the oldest about seven,— and 
a young girl of twelve or fourteen. The form, 
or plantation, they lived on, contained about one 
hundred and fifty acres of cleared land, sandy, and 
the greater part of it poor, as was proved by the 
stinted orrowth of the cotton. 

At the time of our arrival at this house, I saw no 
persons about it, except the four ladies— the mother 
and her three daughters — the husband being in the 
field, as noticed above. According to the orders of 
my master, I had taken the saddle from his horse 
and put him in a stable ; and it was not until after 
the first salutations of the new landlord to my mas- 
ter were over, that he seemed to think of asking him 
whether he had come on foot, on horse-back, or in a 
coach. He at length, however, turned suddenly and 
asked him, with an air of surprise, where he had left 
his horses and carriage. My master said he had no 
carriage, that he travelled on horseback, and that his 
horse was in the stable. The landlord then apolo- 
gized for the trouble he must have had, in having 
his horse put away himself; and said that at this 
season of the year, the planters were so hurried by 
their crops, and found so much difficulty in keeping 



Anvi:.\TriiK8 of f harlks hall. 89 

down the gra^, that ihcy were i^enerally (»l>liged to 
keep all their servants in the field : that for his part, 
he had been coin|>«'llnl to put his roarhnian. and 
even the waitinir-ruaids of his il.uii^liirrs into the 
cotton fields, juid that at this time, his family were 
without servants, a rirnimstanox; that had n«nrr 
hap|M!ned l>cforc ! " For my part,' said he, ''I have 
always prided myself no hrini^inix u}) inv family 
well, and can say, that alihouirh I do not live in so 
fine a house as some of the oth«'r planters of (.'aroli- 
na, yet my chiMrrn am as t^rrat ladi»'s and i^cntle- 
men as any in the slate. Not oneof ih- m Ims rvcr 
hail to do a day's work yet, and as InriLT as 1 live, 
never shall. I sent two of my dau'^rhlers to Charles- 
ton last s'lmiiiT, and ilwy were there ihicc monilis ; 
and I iiilrnd to send the yonm^est their this sum- 
in r. They have all learned to dance her«' in Co- 
lumbia, where I sent them two quarters U) a IVench- 
man, anrl he mule m«' pay pretty well for it. Thoy 
went to the san)e danc.inir .school with th»' daui^hters 
of Wade Hampton and Colonel Fii/.huudi. I am 
determined that they shall never many ;inv l)uL j^^n- 
tlemen of the first character, and I know th«;y will 
always follow my advice in matters of this kind. 
They are prudent and sensible girls, and are not go- 
in^ to do as .Major Pollack's daughter did this spring, 
who ran away with a Georgia cracker who brought 
a drove of cattle for sale from tli'i Indian country, 
and who had not a ni'j-^cr in the world. He staid 
with me sometime, and wishe(^l to have something tq 
8* 



90 NARRATIVE OF THE 

say to my second daughter, but the thing would 
not do." 

Here he stopped short in his narrative, and seem- 
ing to muse a moment, said to his guest, " I pre- 
sume, as you travel alone, you have no family." 
" No," replied my master, " I am a single man." "I 
thought so by your appearance," said the loquacious 
landlord, " and I shall be glad to introduce you to 
my family this evening. My sons are two as fine 
fellows as there are in all Carolina. My oldest boy 
is lieutenant in the militia, and in the same com- 
pany that maiched with Gen. Marion in the war. 
He was on the point of fighting a duel lost winter, 
with young M'Corkle in Columbia ; hut the matter 
was settled between them. You will see him this 
evening, when he returns from the coit-party. A 
coit-party of young bucks meets once every week 
about two miles from tiiis, and as I wish my sons to 
keep the best company, they lioth attend it. There 
is to be a cock-fight there this afternoon, and my 
youngest son, Edmund, has the finest cock in this 
country. He is of the true game blood, — the real 
Dominica game breed ; and I sent to Charleston for 
his gaflfs. There is a bet of ten dollars a side be- 
tween my son's cock, and one belonging to young 
Blainey, the son of Major Blainey. Young Blainey 
is a hot-headed young blood, and has been concern- 
ed in three duels, though I believe he never fought 
but one ; but I know Edmund will not take a word 
from him, and it will be well if he and his cock do 
not both get well licked-" 



ADVENTTRFS OF CHARI.FS PALL. 91 

Ilrro the conversation was arre>Jte(l l)y ili*' smmd 
of horses' feet on iIm* ro.ul. ami in \\\r n.'xt instant, 
two vnnnir iiu'ii rhIo up at a i:allo[), nioiinlod on 
I'-an l<xjk in jT horses ; one of the riders rarryin^ a 
pole on his shoulder, with a cnnie cock in a not Kap. 
\\n\ lo one end of it. On |x*rceivini»^ thiMu ihe land- 
lord exclaimed with an oath, *• TlH'res two lads of 
spirit ! stranpcr. — and if \ou will allow nie the lib- 
erty of aflkin£f you your name, I will intnKluce you 
to tfu'in." At the suirjicstion of his name, my mas- 
ter s^MMued to hc^iitate a little, hut after a moment's 
j>ausc, said, ''They call mr M(iil1hi, sir." Ah 
name i-; Iluliir, '•ir," n-plir*! ihr landlord, 'and I am 
\ery ha|)py lo Im; acJinaintJMl wiili you. Mr. .M'(iif- 
l]\\." al the same lim*' shakini'^ Imn l»\ tli.- hand, 
and intrtMliicinir his two yn>i\<, who \\«'rr hv this time 
at the dfxir. 

'I'ins was tip- fir-t lime 1 had ever li«'ard iIm- name 
of my ma-trr, alth<»ui:h f had Ihtu with liim five 
w«M'ks I Jiad never seen him hofore tin- day on 
whhdi Ih" seized and lx)und ni'- m .Maryland, and 
as he i(X)k nic away immrtliateU , I did not hear his 
name at the time. The jH^ople who assi-ted to fetter 
me. either from accident or drsiirn. omiltr-d to name 
hiiM. and afn-r we coinmencrd our jonrn«*y, he had 
maintained so much di'^tant reserve and austerity of 
manner towards us all, lliat no one vr'ntured \^) ask 
liini his name. We had called Imn noihiriL: l)ut 
'• master,'' and the various persons at whose houses 
we had stopp*;d on our way, knew as little of his 
name as we did. We had frequently been asked 



92 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the name of our master, and perhaps had not al- 
ways obtained credence, when we said we did not 
know it. 

Throughout the whole journey, until after we 
were released from our irons, he had forbidden us to 
converse together beyond a few words in relation to 
our temporary condition and w^ants ; and as he was 
with us all day, and never slept out of hearing of us 
at night, he rigidly enforced his edict of silence. 1 
presume that the reason of this prohil)ition of all con- 
versation, was to prevent us from devising plans of 
escape ; but he had imposed as rigid a silence on 
himself as was enforced upon us ; and after having 
passed from Maryland to South Carolina, in his com- 
pany, I knew no more of my master, than, that he 
knew how to keep his secrets, guard his slaves, and 
make a close bargain. I had never heard him 
speak of his home or family ; and tberefore had con- 
cluded that he was an unmarried man, and an ad- 
venturer, who felt no more attachment for one place 
than another, and whose residence was not very 
well settled ; but, from the large sums of money 
which he must have been able to command and 
carry with him to the north, to enable him to pur- 
chase so large a number of slaves, I had no doubt 
that he was a man of consequence and consideration 
in the place from whence he came. 

In Maryland, I had always observed that men, 
who were the owners of large stocks of negroes, 
were not averse to having publicity given to their 
names ; and that the possession of this species of 



ADVENTURES OF rHARLKH HAM.. 93 

property even there, gave its owner more vanity and 
egotism, than fell to the lot of the holilers ot" any 
otficr kind of estate ; and in truth, my suhseipient 
experience proved, that without the |)ossession of 
slaves, no man could ever arrive at. tir \u^^e to rise 
to any honourahle station in so<'ieiy ; - )ri, my mas- 
l«r <»'emed In lake no pride in havini^ at lus dis}H>sal 
iIh' livrs (it >n many human lKMngj». \\r nev«r s}H)kc 
to u-< m words of either pity or hatred ; and never 
8(X)ke of Uv rxo'pt to order US to Im« \vt\ or watered, 
as li.' u.iuld havtj dir«Tlrd the sam«? otlVes to he p'T- 
lornit'd lor -4) many hor-<'s, or to impiirr wiu re tiie 
Ix'sl prices could l>e ohtaiiied for us. I h; rci^arded ii.s 
only as ol)jecls of trallic and the materials of Ins 
coMunerce ; and althoULrh lir had livrd several years 
in Carolina ami (ieorijia, and had there exerci<f'd 
l\v', profes.sion of an overseer, he re«xard»Ml the sonih- 
ern pl;int(!rs as no less the siihjecLs of trade am! spec- 
ulation, than the slaves he sold to them ; as will ap- 
pear in thr srtjuel. It was to this man that the 
laiidioiil intrtnluced hi- two son<, and upon ulioin 
hr wa-" enilfavourini,' to im|>o^e a Ix-lie-f. llial \u- was 
the he.ul of a fanuly whiih Untk rank with thn<«' of 
the first planters of th.- (Ii<tri<:l. Th.; ladirs of the 
hous«'hold. though I had srm th»'m in the kitchen 
when I walked round the huu-e, h:i(l riot yet pre- 
sentrd ih'iuselves to n)y master, nor indeed were 
they in a conditi(^n to be seen anywhere but in the 
apartment lljey occu[)ied at the time. The young 
gentlemen gave a very gasconading account of the 
coit-party and cock-fight, from which they liad just 



94 NARRATIVE OP THE 

returned, and according to their version of the afTair, 
it might have been an assemblage of at least half 
the military officers of the state ; for all the persons 
of whom they spoke, were captains, majors, and col- 
onels. The eldest said, he had won two bowls of 
punch at coils ; and the youngest, whose cock had 
been victof in the battle, on which ten dollars were 
staked, vaunted much of the qualities of his bird ; 
and supported his veracity by numerous oaths, and 
reiterated appeals to his brother for the truth of his 
assertions. Both these young men were so much 
intoxicated, that they with difficulty maintained an 
erect posture in walkini^. 

By this time the sun was going (^own, and I ob- 
served two lomaie slaves, a woman and girl, ap- 
proaching the liouse on the side of the kitchen from 
the cotton field. They were coming home to pre- 
pare supper for the family ; the ladies whom I liad 
seen in the kitchen not having been there for the 
purpose of performing the duties appropriate to that 
station, but having sought it as a place of refuge 
from the sight of my master, who had approached 
the front of their dwelling silently, and so suddenly 
as not to permit tliem to gain the foot of the stairway 
in the large front room, without being seen by him. 
to whose view they by no means wished to expose 
themselves, before they had visited their toilets. 
About dark the supper was ready in the large room, 
and, as it had two fronts, one of which looked into 
the yard %vhere my companions and I had been per- 
mitted to seat ourselves, and had an opportunity of 



ADVKNTURKS OP CIIARLF:S BALL. 95 

seeini^, l)y the lii^hi n( iln- candle, all that was done 
within, and of lie^rin;^ all tliat \\\'ls said. 'I'he la- 
dies, four in nanil)cr. had entered the rtx>ni U'forethe 
gentlemen ; and wlien the latter came in my master 
wa.s introduced, hy the landlord to his wife and 
daiiijhters, hy the name and title of (.'itlnntl M(j!if'- 
fm^ which, at that lime, im|nes.«*«Ml me with a In-lief 
that hp WUH really an «»tli.:.'r, and tjiai hr had dis- 
cl'Ked this rircunHLince wiihoni my knowledirc ; 
hut I afliTwartIs |ierc-ivrd that in the south it is 
de«;m<'d res|>cclful to addre^•s a slranijer l.y ihe title 
of ('(»lone|, or Major, or (irneral, if his apjKarance 
will warrant the association of so hii;h a rank with 
his name. My master had declared his inteniidii of 
hecominir the inmate of this family for some lime, 
and no pains seemed to l>e spared on their part to 
impress u|)on his mind the high opinion that they 
entertained of the ditrnity of the owner of fifty slaves; 
the prwsession of so large a mimlx*r of hun.an crea- 
ture- l)eing, in Carolina, a certilirate of character, 
whi( li rniiiles iti» Ix^arer to • ntrr whatever society he 
may choosr to select, without any ihinir more heing 
known of his hirili, his life, or reputation. The 
man who (.wn- fifty servants must needs be a gen- 
tium in amnULrstihe higher ranks, and the owner of 
half a hundred ni^ircrs is a sort of nohleman 
amongst the low, the ignorant, and the vulgar. 
The mother and three daughters, whase appearance, 
when I saw them m the kitchen, would have war- 
ranted the conclusion that they had ju.st risen from 
bed. without having time to adjust their dress, were 



96 NARRA^riVE OF THE! 

now gaily, if not neatly attired ; and the two female 
slaves, who had come from the field at sundown to 
cook the supper, now waited at the table. The land- 
lord talked much of his crops, his plantation and 
slaves, and of the distinguished families who ex- 
changed visits with his own ; but my master took 
very little part in the conversation of the evening, 
and appeared disposed to maintain the air of mys- 
tery which had hitherto invested his character. 

After it was quite dark, the slaves came in from 
the cotton-field, and taking little notice of us, went 
into the kitchen, and each taking thence a pint of 
corn, proceeded to a liltlc mill, which was nailed to 
a post in the yard, and there commenced the opera- 
tion of grinding meal for their suppers, which were 
afterwards to be prepared by baking the meal into 
cakes at the fire. The woman who was the mother 
of the three small children, was permitted to grind 
her allowance of corn first, and after her came the 
old man, and the others in succession. After the 
corn was converted into meal, each one kneaded it 
up with cold water into a thick dough, and raking 
away the ashes from a small space on the kitchen 
hearth, placed the dough, rolled up in green leaves, 
in the hollow, and covering it with hot embers, left 
it to be baked into bread, which was done in about 
half an hour. These loaves constituted the only 
supper of the slaves belonging to this family ; for I 
observed that the two women who had waited at the 
table, after the supper of the white people \\ as dis- 
posed of, also came with their corn to the mill on the 



ADVE TIRKS OF CHARLES HALL. 97 

post, and ground their allowance lik.^ the otiiers. 
They had not been jXTiniited to taste even the frag- 
ments of the meal that they had .-.M.k.d (..r (h.^ir 
masters and n.iHtresses. It was eleven o'clock l>e. 
fore these people had fmishcd thrir supper of cakes, 
and several nf thejii, rs|H-(ially the younger of the 
two lads, were s<i overiMjwered with toil and sleep, 
that they had to he nnis.'d from their <luinh.«rs when 
their rak«'- were doii*;, to devour iheiii. 

\\<- hid Inr our sup|)er to-nii,Hit, a pini. nf boiled 
rice to eacli |M«rson, and a small ciuantity of stale and 
very rancid butter, from the l)ottoni of an old keg, 
or firkin, which cont;iined about two p.)unds, tlie 
remnant of that whirl, our.' rill,.,! it. W,. i^ojled 
the rice ourselves, in .i large iron kettle; and, as our 
master now inf)rMied us ili.i we were to HMuain 
here some time, many of us detcrnuiird (,, avail our- 
selves of this srason of r.-spite Iroui our toils, to wash 
our clothes, and free our p<;r6ons from the vermin 
which had aj)peared amongst our party several 
weeks before, and now beiTun t(. b<' ••xtr.'m,.h- tor- 
menting. As we were not allowed any soap, we 
were obliged to resort to the use of a very fine and 
unctuous kmi of clay, resembling fullers' earih, but 
of a yellow colour, which was found on the margin 
of a small swamp near the house. This was ^he 
first time tl^ I had ever heard of clay being used 
for the purpose of washing c otl.es ; but I often avail- 
ed myselfof tJiis resource afterwards, whilst I was a 
slave in the south. We wet our clothes, then rub- 
bed Ibis clay all over the -rannents, and by scouring 



98 NARRATIVE OF THE 

it out in warm water with our hands, the cloth, 
whether of woollen, cotton, or linen texture, was left 
entirely clean. We subjected our persons to the 
same process, and in this way freed our camp from 
the host of enemies that had been generated in the 
course of our journey. 

This washing consumed the whole of the first 
day of our residence on the plantation of Mr. Hulig. 
We all lay the first night in a shed, or summer kit- 
chen, standing behind the house, and a few yards 
from it, a place in which the slaves of the plantation 
waslied their clothes, and passed their Sundays in 
w^arm weather, wlien they did not work ; but as this 
place was quite too small to accommodate our party, 
or indeed to contain us, without crowding usjtogether 
in such a manner as to endanger our health, we 
were removed, the morning after our arrival, to an 
old decayed frame building, about one liundred 
yards from the house, which had been erected, as I 
learned, for a cotton-gin, but into which its possessor, 
for want of means I presume, had never introduced 
the machinery of the gin. This buikling was near 
forty feet square ; was without any other floor than 
the earth, and had neither doors nor windows, to 
close the openings which had been left for the ad- 
mission of those who entered it. We were told that 
in this place the cotton of the plantation Avas depos- 
ited in the picking season, as it was brought from 
the field , until it could be removed to a neighbouring 
plantation, where there was a gin to divest it of its 
seeds. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES RAM,. 90 

Here \v«^ took our lemfxirary alxxle— in.Mi and 
women promiscuously. Our provisions, whilst wc 
rem.iinpd here, were reguhirly distributed to us; and 
the daily allowance to each person, consisted of a 
pint of corn, a pint of rice, and alniut three or four 
|H)inul3 of huttcr, such as we had received on the 
niq^ht of our arrival, divided aiiionirsl u-, in small 
piece.s from the |)oint of a tabl*' knif.-. The rice we 
hoile<i in the iron kettle, — we i,'round our corn at (he 
little mill on the po^t in the kitchen, and converted 
ihrmr.il into bread, in the maimer ue h.id l»rrn ae 
customt-'d to at home — somfiimes on the hearth, 
and sometimes l>cfore the fire, on a hi)e. Tho but- 
ter was 'jiven us as an extraonliiiaiy ration, to 
strenu^then and recriiit us aftrr om loni,^ march, ;ind 
^ive us a healthy and «\(XMt a[)praiari(-e at the 
lime of our future salr. 

We had no beds of any kind to slerp nn, but each 
one was provided with a blanket, whi« h had In^en 
the companion of our travels. We were left entire- 
ly at lilM'rty to jjo out or in when we [ikased, and 
no watrh was kept over us either by niirht or day. 

Our master had removed us so far from our native 
country, that he su|^>osed it impossible f(»r any of us 
ever to escape from him, and surmount all the ob- 
stacles that lay between us and our former homes. 
He went awy immediately after we were establish- 
ed in our new lodirin^s, and remained absent until 
the second evenin«r about sundown, wiien he return- 
ejj, came into our shed, sat down on a block of wood 
inpfe" *nidst of us, and asked if any one had been 



100 NARRATIVE OF THE 

sick ; if we had got our clothes clean ; and if we 
had been su; plied with an allowance of rice, corn, 
and butter. After satisfying himself upon these 
points, he told us that we were now at hberty to run 
away if we < bose to do so ; but if we made the at- 
tempt we should most certainly be re-taken, and sub- 
jected to the most terrible punishment. " 1 never 
flog," said he, "my practice is to cat-hmd ; and if 
you run away, and I catch you again— as I surely 
shall do — and give you one cat-hauling, you will 
never run away again, nor attempt it." I did not 
then understand the import of cat-hauling, but in 
after times, became well acquainted wilh its signifi- 
cation. 

We remained in this place nearly two weeks, 
during which time our allowance of food was not 
varied, and was regularly given to us. We were 
not re(|uired to do any work ; and 1 had liberty and 
leisure to walk about the plantation, and make such 
observations as I could upon the new state of things 
around me. Gentlemen Rnd ladies came every day 
to look at us, with a view of becoming our purchas- 
ers ; and we were examined with minute care as to 
our ages, former occupations, and capacity of per- 
forming labour. Our persons were inspected, and 
more especially the hands were scrutinized, to see if 
all the fingers were perfect, and capable of the quick 
motions necessary in picking cotton. Our master 
only visited us once a day, and sometimes he re- 
mained absent two days ; so that he seldom met any 
of those who came to see us ; but, whenever it so 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. KH 

happened that he (htl meet ihein, he laid a<ide his 
silence and became very talkative, and even anima- 
ted in iiis converHalion, extollini; our i^ood iiualities. 
and averriiii: thru In- li.id jnirchased some of uj^ of 
on«! colonel, and others of anothrr f^eneral in \ iriji- 
m.i ; that he could by no means have pro<:ured us. 
Ii:id It not been that, in some instanccj», our masters 
had ruined ihemsrives. and were ol)ligod to sell us 
to .save their faniilies from ruin ; and in others, that 
our owners were dead, ilnir rstales deeply in debt, 
.iml \vr had l»«'en sold at pul)lic sale ; by wbirh 
mrans hi* hail l)ccome po-t<«\ssed of us. He said our 
hal>iLs wrre unoxcrptionablo, our characters ijo(jd. 
and thai there was iioi one aniuiiL^^t u- all w bo bad 
ever bej.'u kiiowii to run away, or steal an} tbiiii; 
from our former nuHters. I oltserved that ruiminir 
away, and slealintr from bis mast«'r, w<'re regarded 
:ls the hii^best crimes of which a slave could be, 
guilty ; but I heard no (juesiions asked concerninLT 
our pio[M'nsiiy to steal from other p(;ople l)esidj'.s our 
masters, and I afterwards learned, that this was not 
always regarded as a very high crime by the owner 
of a slave, provided he woidd perjietrate the theft so 
adroitly as not to be detected in it. 

We were severally asked by our visiters, if we 
would be willing to live with them, if they would 
purchase us, to which we generally replied in the 
affirmative ; but our owner declined all the olTers that 
were made for us, upon the ground that we were 
too poor — looked too bad to be sold at present — and 
9* 



102 NARRATIVE OF THE 

that in our condition he could not expect to get a 
fair v^alue for us. 

One evenins:, when our master was with us, a thin, 
sallow-looking man rode up to the house, and alight- 
ing from his horse, came to us, and told him that he 
had come to 6uy a boy ; that he wished to get a 
good field hand, and would pay a good price for him. 
I never saw a human countenance that expressed 
more of the evil passions of the h< art than did that 
of this man, aiKi his conversation corresponded with 
his physiognomy. Every sentence of his language 
was accompanied with an oath of the most vulgar 
profanity, and his eyes appeared to me to be the in- 
dex of a ?oul as cruel as his visage was disgusting 
and repulsive. 

After looking at us for some time, this wretch sin- 
gled me out as the object of his choice, and coming 
up to me, asked me how I would like him for a mas- 
ter. In my heart I detested him ; but a slave is 
often afraid to speak the truth, and divulge all he 
feels ; so with myself in this instance, as it was 
doubtful whetlier 1 might not fall into his hands, 
and be subject to the violence of his temper, 1 told 
him that if he was a good master, as every gentle- 
man ought to be, I should be willing to live with 
him. He appeared satisfied with my answer, and 
turning to my master, said he would give a high price 
for me. '' 1 can," said he, " by going to Charleston, 
buy as many Guinea negroes as 1 please for two 
hundred dollars each, but as I Hke this fellow, I will 
give you four hundred for him." This offer struck 



ADVKNTl'RES OK CHARLES BALL. 103 

t« nor into my vrry heart, lor I kiirw it was as 
imirli as was ^aMierally given for the l)ef^t and ahlcst 
slaves, and I expected that it would ininietliately be 
accrpted as my price, and that I should he at once 
consigned to the hands of this man. of wlioin I ii id 
for?ncd so ahhorrent an opinion. To my surprise 
and satisfaction. Imwrvcr, my ma.^trr made no n'[)ly 
to ie proix>-iti<in : hutstiMxl fnr a momriii, wilii one 
hand raised to l)is fare and his fore-finixcr t)n his 
no-r, :ind then lurninir suddenly l«> mc said, •'('iiarlcs, 
go into the house ; 1 sh.ill not -ell \ on to-day." It 
was my hu-ine^- to obey the (.rder (»f departure, and 
as I went he\ond the soimd of their voices, I could 
not understand the purport of the conversation wliic h 
followed hetween t he.-e two tratVickers in liiim;in 
IjIoikI : hut afi<.'r a parley of aljout a (juarter of an 
hour, the hated .stranger started abruptly away, and 
goiniT to the road, mounie.j bi- horse, and rode off at 
:\ g:illop. banisbini: himself and my fears together. 

I did not see my master airain this evening", and 
when I eanie out of our b.irracks in the morniuir, al- 
though it was scarcely dayliirbt. I saw bin) standinc" 
near on • corner of the building, with his head incli- 
ned towards the wall, evidently listening to catch 
any souufls within, lie ordered me to go and feed 
his horse, and have him saddled for him by sunri.«e. 
About an hour afterwards he came to the stable in 
his riding dress; and told me that he should remove 
us all to Columbia in a few days. He then rode 
away, and did not return until tlie third day after- 
wards. 



104 NARRATIVE OF THE 

CHAPTER VII. 

It was now about the middle of June, the weath- 
er excessively warm, and from eleven o'clock, A. M. 
until late in the afternoon, the sand about our resi- 
dence was so hot, that we could not stand on it with 
our bare feet in one posture, more than one or two 
minutes. The whole country, so far as I could see, 
appeared to be a dead plain, without the least vari- 
ety of either hill or dale. The pine was so far the 
predominating timber of the forest, that at a little 
distance the entire woods appeared to be composed 
of this tree. 

I had become weary of being confined to the im- 
mediate vicinity of our lodgings, and determined to 
venture out into the fields of the plantation, and see 
the manner of cultivating cotton. Accordingly, after 
I had made my morning meal upon corn cakes, I 
sallied out in the direction which I had seen the 
slaves of the plantation take at the time they left the 
house at daylight, and following a path through a 
small field of corn, which was so tall as to prevent 
me from seeing beyond it, I soon arrived at the field 
in which the people were at work with hoes amongst 
the cotton, which was about two feet and a half 
high, and had formed such long branches, that they 
could no longer plough in it without breaking it. 
Expecting to pass the remainder of my life in this 
kind of labour, I felt anxious to know the evils, if 
any, attending it, and more especially the manner 



AH VENTURES OF CHARLES BALL 105 

in which the slaves were treated on the cotton 
estates. 

^rhe people now before me, were all diligently and 
laboriously weeding and hilling the cotton with hoes, 
and when I approached them, they scarcely took 
time to speak to me, but continued their labour as if 
I had not l>een present. As there did not appear to 
be any overseer with tlu-m, I thought I would go 
amongst them, and enter into conversation with 
them ; but upon addressing myself to one of the 
men, and telling him, if it was not disagreeable to 
him, I should be glad to become acquainted with 
him, he said he should be glad to be aequo inted 
with me, but master Tom did not allow him to talk 
much to people when ho was at work. I asked 
him where his master Tom was; but before he had 
time to reply, some one called — '-."Mind \()ur work 
there, you rascals." Lcxikini,'- in the direction of the 
sound, I saw master Tom, sitting under the shade 
of a sassafras tree, at the distance of about a hundred 
yards from us. Deemin^x it imsafe to continue in 
the field without the permission of its lord, I ap- 
proached the sassafras tree, with my hat in my 
hand, and in a very humble manner, asked leave 
to help the people work awhile, as I was tired of 
staying about the house and doing nothing. He 
said he did not care ; I might go and work with 
th I iw bile, but I must take care not to talk too 
much, and keep his hands from their work. 

Now, having authority on my side, I returned, 
and taking a hoe from the hands of a small girl, 



106 NARRATIVE OF THE 

told her to pull up weeds, and I would take her row 
for her. When we arrived at the end of the rows 
which we were then hilling, master Tom, who still 
held his post under the sassafras tree, called his peo- 
ple to come to breakfast. Although I had already 
broken my fast, I went with the rest for the purpose 
of seeing what their breakfast was composed of At 
the tree I saw a keg which contained about five gal- 
lons, with water in it ; and a gourd lying by it : 
near this was a basket m.ade of splits, large enougli 
to hold more than a peck. It contained the break- 
fast of the people, covered by some green leaves of 
the magnolia, or great bay tree of the south. When 
the leaves were removed, I found that the supply of 
provisions consisted of one cake of corn meal, weigh- 
ing about half a pound, for each person. This bread 
had no sort of seasoning, not even salt, and consti- 
tuted the only breakfast of these poor people, who 
had been toiling from early dawn until about eight 
o'clock. There was no cake for me, and master 
Tom did not say any thing to me on the state of 
my stomacli ; but the young girl, whose hoe I had 
taken in the field, offered me a part of her cake, 
which I refused. After the breakfast was despatch- 
ed, we again returned to our work ; but the master 
ordered the girl, whose hoe I had, to go and get an- 
other hoe which lay at some distance in the field, 
and take her row again. I continued in the field 
until dinner, which took place about one o'clock, 
and was the same, in all respects, as the breakfast 
had been. 



ADVKNTVRES OF CHARLES BALL. 107 

Master Tom was iho yoiiniror of (he two brothers 
who returned from (ho cock-fii^ht on the evening of 
our arrival at this place,— he left the field about ten 
o'clock, and was succeeded by his elder brother, as 
overseer for the remainder of (he day. After this 
change of superintendenLs, my companions became 
more lofiuacious, and in the course of an hour or 
(wo, I iiad heaime familiar with the condition of mv 
I'llow-labourers who told me that the elder of their 
\ oung masters was much less tyrannical than his 
voungerbrodirr; and (liai whil,^( (li.- |ni nicr KMiiain- 
«'d in the field (hey would be at hbrr(y to (alk as nmch 
as they pleased, provided they did not neglect their 
work. One of the men who appeared to be ai)out 
for(y years of age, and who was the foreman of the 
Held, (old me (ha( he had been l)orn in >South Caro- 
lina, and had always lived there, (hough he had only 
belongml (o his present master about ten years. I 
asked him if his master allowed him no meat, nor 
any kind of provisions except bread ; to which he 
replied (hat they never had any meat except at 
Christmas, when each hand on the place received 
about three pounds of pork ; that from September, 
when the sweet potatoes were at the maturity of 
their growth, they had an allowance of potatoes as 
long as the crop held out, which was generally until 
about March ; but that for the rest of the year,' they 
had nothing but a peck of corn a week, with such 
weeds and other vegetables as they could gather 
from the fields for greens— that their master did not 
allow them any salt, and that the only meanfe they 



108 NARRATIVE OF THE 

had of procuring this luxury, was, by work on 
Sundays for the neigbouring planters, who paid 
them in money at the rate of fifty cents per day, 
with which they purchased salt and some other ar- 
ticles of convenience. 

This man told me that his master furnished him 
with two shirts of tow linen, and two pair of trousers, 
one of woollen and the other of linen cloth, one wool- 
len jacket, and one blanket every year. That he 
received the woollen clothes at Christmas, and the 
linen at Easter ; and all the other clothes, if he had 
any, he was obliged to provide for himself by work- 
ing on Sunday. He said, that for several years past, 
he had not been able to provide any clothes for him- 
self; as he had a wife with several small children, 
on an adjoining plantation, whose master gave only 
one suit of clothes in the year to the mother, and none 
of any kind to the children, which had compelled 
him to lay out all his savings in providing clothes for 
his family, and such little necessaries as were called 
for by his wife, from time to time. He had not had 
a shoe on his foot for several years, but in winter 
made a kind of moccasin for himself of the bark of a 
tree, which he said was abundant in the swamps, 
and could be so manufactured as to make good ropes, 
and tolerable moccasins, sufficient at least, to defend 
the feet from the frost though not to keep them dry. 

The old man whom I have alluded to before, was 
in the field with the others, though he was not able 
to keep up his row. He liad no clothes on him ex- 
cept the remains of an old shirt, which hung in tat- 



ADVENTURES OF rnvRLES BALL. 109 

ttn-s from his neck and arms ; the two youriir irjrls 
had nothing on them but jxHlicoats, made of coarse 
low cloth, and the woman who was the moiher of the 
children, wore the remains of a tow linen shifi, the 
front part of which was entirely i^one ; but a piece 
of old cotton l)au;,Mi„T(ie,l rouuil her loins. servtMJ the 
pur|M)s««8 of an apron. The younLjer of thr two 
boys was rntirrly nakfd. 

The man who was foreman o( ilu- fuld. was a 
perstm of good sense for the condition of life in 
which fortune had placed him. an«l s\M^kr to mc 
fre.'Iy (.f \\i> haril lot I observed that und. r bis 
^hirt. u bi. Ii was very nursed, he wore a piece of bnc 
lin.'u clolb, app irently part of an old shirt, wrapped 
closely n.imtl iii^ kick, and confined in front by 
strings, tie<l down lii.s breast. I asked bun why be 
wore that piece of gentleman's linen under bis <|iift, 
and shall give his reply in his own words as well as 
1 can recollect them, at a distance of near thirty 
years. 

•• i have always l)een a hard working man. and 
have suffered a great deal from bung.'r in my tim.-. 
It is not fxjs^il.lr for a man to work bard ever\ d.iy 
for several months, and get nothmg but a [)eck of 
corn a week to eat, and not feel hungry. Wlien a 
man is hungry, yuu kncnv, (if you liave ever been 
hungry,) he mu^t eat whatever he can get. I liave 
not tasted meat since last Christmas, and we have 
had to work uncommonly hard this sumnjer. Mas- 
ter has a flock of sheep, that run in the woods, and 
they come every night to sleep in the lane near the 
10 



110 NARRATIVE OF THE 

house. Two weeks ago last Saturday, when we 
quit work at night, I was very hungry, and as we 
went to the house we passed along the lane w4iere 
the sheep lay. There were nearly fifty of them, 
a.nd some were very fat. The temptation was more 
than I could bear. I caught one of them, cut its 
head off with the hoe that I carried on my shoulder, 
and threw it under the fence. About midnight, 
when all was still about the house, I went out with 
a knife, took the sheep into the w^oods, and dressed 
it by the light of the moon. The carcass [ took 
home, and after cutting it up, placed it in the great 
kettle over a good hre, intenduig to boil it and divide 
it, when cooked, botween my fellow-slaves (whom I 
knew to be as hungry as 1 was) and myself. Un- 
fortunately for me. master Tom, who had been out 
amongst his friends that day, had not returned at 
bed-time; and altout one o'clock in the morning, at 
the time when I had a blazing fire under the kettle, 
I heard the sound of the feet of a horse coming along 
the lane. The kitchen walls were open so that the 
hght of my fire could not be concealed, and in a 
moment I heard the horse blowing at the front of 
the house. Conscious of my danger, I stripped my 
shirt from my back, and pushed it into the boiling 
kettle, so as wholly to conceal the flesli of the sheep. 
I had scarcely completed this act of precaution, when 
master Tom burst into rlie kitchen, and with a ter- 
rible oath, asked me what 1 was doing so late at 
night, with a great fire in the kitchen. 1 replied, ' I 
am going to wash n.y sliirt, master, and am boiling 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. Ill 

it to get it clean.' ' Washing your shirt at this 
time of night ! ' said he, ' I will let you know that 
you are not to sit up all night and be lazy and c^ood 
for nothing all day. There shall ho no liniling of 
shirts here on Sunday morning,' and thrusting his 
cane into the kc{{U\ he raised my shirt out and threw 
it on ijie kitchen floor. 

"He did not at first observe the mutton, which 
rose to the surface of the water as soon as the shirt 
was removeil ; but, after giving the shirt a kick 
towards the diwr. he again turned his face to the fire, 
and seeing a leg slandinij srv»'ral inches out of the 
pot, he demanded of me what I had in there and 
where I had got this meat ! Finding that I was 
detected, and that the whole ma tier must he dis- 
covered, I said,- ' Master, I am Imngry, and am 
coijkini: my suppir." ♦ What is it yuu hav»" in 
here / ' ' A sheep,' said !, and as the words were 
uttered, he knocked me down with his cane, and af- 
ter locating me severely, ordered me to cross my 
hands until he b«Hmd me fast with a rope that hung 
in the kitcjien, and answered the double purpose of 
a clothes' line, and a cord to tie us with when we 
were to l^e whipped. He put out the fire under the 
kettle, drew me into the yard, tied me fast to the 
mill-post, and leaving me there for the night, went 
and called one of the negro boys to put his horse 
in the stable, and went to liis bed. The cord was 
bound so tightly round my wrists, that before morn- 
ing, the blood had burst out under my finger nails ; 
but I suppose my master slept soundly for all that. 



112 NARRATIVE OF THE 

I was afraid to call any one to come and release me 
from my torment, lest a still more terrible punish- 
ment might overtake me. 

" I was permitted to remain in this situation until 
long after sunrise the next morning, which being 
Sunday, was quiet and still ; my fellow-slaves being 
permitted to take their rest after the severe toil of 
the past week, and my old master and two young 
ones having no occasion to rise to call the hands 
to the field, did not think of interrupting their morn- 
ing slumbers, to release me from my painful con- 
finement. However, when the sun was risen about 
an hour, I heard the noise of persons moving in the 
great house, and soon after, a loud and boisterous 
conversation, which I well knew portended no good 
to me. At length they all three came into the yard 
where I lay, lashed to the post, and approaching me, 
my old master asked me if I had any accomplices 
in stealing the sheep. I told them none— that it 
was entirely my own act — and that none of my fel- 
low-slaves had any hand in it. This was the 
truth ; but if any of my companions had been con- 
cerned with me, I should not have betrayed them : 
for such an act of treachery could not have alleviated 
the dreadful punishment which I knew awaited me, 
and would only have involved them in the same 
misery. 

" They called me a thief, loaded me with oaths and 
imprecations, and each one proposed the punishment 
which he deemed the most appropriate to the enormity 
of the crime that I had committed. Master Tom 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 113 

was of opinion, that I should l)e lashed to tho post at 
the foot of which I lay, and that eacli of my fellow- 
slaves should bo coin|)elled to give me a dozen lash- 
es in turn, with a mastrd and greased hickory sj^ml, 
until I had received, in the wliole, two luindred 
arid fifty lashes on my l)aro hack, and that he would 
St iikJ hy. with the whi|) in his hand, and compel 
(litMu not to spare me ; init after a -hurt del)ate this 
was given up. a-- ii would probably render me una- 
ble to work in the firld again for several weeks. 
My master Ned was in favour of giving me a dozen 
lashes every morning for a month, with the whip; 
hut my old master said, this would be attended with 
too much trouble, and besides, it would keep me 
from my w<jrk, at least hall' an hour every morning, 
;ind pro|)osed, in his turn, that 1 should not be 
whipped at all, iuit thai ibt^ carcass of the sbeep 
should be t;iken from the kettle in its ball-boiled 
condition, and InmLT up in the kitchen loft without 
salt; and that 1 shoidd !>«' compelled to subsist on 
thi- putrid nmtton without any other food, until it 
should l)«; consumed. This suggestion met the ap 
probation of my young masters, and would have 
been adopted, had not mistress at this moment come 
into the yard, and hearing the intended punishment, 
loudly objected to it^ because the mutton would, in a 
day or two, create such an offensive stench, that she 
and my young mistresses Avould not be able to re- 
main in the house. My mistress swore dreadfully, 
and cursed me for an ungrateful sheep thief, who, 
after all her kindness in giving me soup and warm 
10* 



114 NARRATIVE OF THE 

bread when I was sick last winter, was always 
stealing every thing I could get hold of. She then 
said to my master, that such villany ought not to be 
passed over in a slight manner, and that as crimes, 
such as this, concerned the whole country, my pun- 
ishment ought to be public for the purpose of exam- 
ple ; and advised him to have me whipped that 
same afternoon, at five o'clock ; first giving notice to 
the planters of the neighbourhood to come and see 
the spectacle, and to bring with them their slaves, 
that they might be witnesses to the consequences of 
steahng sheep. 

" They then returned to the house to breakfast ; 
but as the pain in my hands and arms produced by 
the ligatin-es of the cord with which I was bound, 
was greater than I could bear, I now felt exceeding- 
ly sick, and lost all knowledge of my situation. 
They told me I fainted ; and when 1 recovered my 
faculties^ 1 found myself lying in the shade of the 
house, with my hands free, and all the white per- 
sons in my master's family, standing around me. 
As soon as I was able to stand, tlie rope was tied 
round my neck, and the other end again fastened 
to the mill post. My mistress said I had only pre- 
tended to faint; and master Tom said, I would 
have something worth fainting for before night. 
He was faithful to his promise : but, for the present, 
I was suffered to sit on the grass in the shade of 
the house. 

-' As soon as breakfast was over, my two young 
masters had their horses saddled, and set out to give 



ADVENTURKS OF CHARLES BALL. 115 

notice to their friends of wliat had happened, and 
to invite theni to roine and see nie punished for the 
crinie I had committed. My mistress gave me no 
hreakfast, and when I begi^ed one of the hlack 
boys whom I saw K^ikinij at me thnnifrh the pales, 
to brini^ me some water in a gourd to drink, she 
ordered him to brini:^ it from a puddle in the lane. 
^ly mistress ha- always Ixjen very crurl to all licr 
black people. 

'' I remained in this situation until aliout eleven 
o'clock, wlirn one of my youni^ mistresses came to 
me and gave me a piece of jonny-cake a" out 
the size of my hand, p<»rhaps larijer than my Ikuk', 
tellinu- nit^ at the same tiiiic that my fdlow-slaves 
had ixMMi permitted to re-iK)il the nmtton that I had 
left in the kettle, and inak(^ their l)reakfast of it, bnt 
that her uioihrr would not allow Imt to give nie any 
part of il. It wa< well for ihrni that 1 had parU)ilrd it 
with my shin, and so drilled it. that it was inifit for 
the table of my niasirr. tithcrw i-f, no portion of it 
would have fallm to the black people — as it was, 
they had as nmch meat as they could consume in 
two days, for which I had to suffer. 

'' About twelve o'clock, one of my young mas- 
ters returned, and soon afterwards the other came 
home. I heard them tell my old master that they 
had been round to s^ive notice of my offence to the 
neighbourini:: planters, and that several of them 
would attend to see me flogge and woidd bring 
with them some of their slaves, who m ltIiI lie able 
to report to their companions what had been done to 
me for steaUng. 



116 NARRATIVE OF THE 

'' It was late in the afternoon before any of the 
gentlemen came: but, before five o'clock, there 
were more than twenty white people, and at least 
fifty black ones present, the latter of whom had 
been compelled, by their masters, to come and see 
mc punished. Amongst others, an overseer from 
a neighbouring estate attended, and to him was 
awarded the office of executioner. I was stripped 
of my shirt, and the waist-band of my trousers 
was drawn closely round me, below my hips, so 
as to expose the whole of my back, in its entire 

length. 

" It seems that it had been determined to beat me 
with thongs of raw cow-hide, for the overseer had 
two of these in his hands, each about four feet long : 
but one of the gentlemen present said this might 
bruise my back so badly, that I could not work for 
some time : perhaps not for a week or two ; and as I 
could not be spared from the field without great disad- 
vantage to my master's crop, he suggested a dilTerent 
plan, by which, in his opinion, the greatest degree 
of pain could be inflicted on me, with the least dan- 
ger of rendering me unable to work. As he was a 
large planter, and had more than fifty slaves, all were 
disposed to be guided by his counsels, and my mas- 
ter said he would submit the matter entirely to him 
as a man of judgment and experience in such cases. 
He then desired my master to have a dozen pods of 
red pepper boiled in half a gallon of water, and de- 
sired the overseer to lay aside his thongs of raw hide, 
and put a new cracker of silk, to the lash of his 



ADVKN'TURES OF CHARLES BALL. 117 

iiPi^ro whip. ^Vllil<t these preparations wore boiii^ 
nirule, each of my lhuiiil)s was laslied closely to 
the end of a slick al)oiu three fe«^t lonix, and a chair 
bein^ placed l)eside the mill j>tist, I wascomp.ll.'<l to 
rai^e my handd and place the stick, to which my 
thimihs were bound, over the top of the pi)st, which 
is alK)nt eighteen inches square : ih.' <h:iir wa- then 
taken from innler m»\ and I wjls left hani^iiii; by 
the ihinnlH, with my face towards the p^^t, and my 
feet about a f«M)t fn»m the irromid. My two irreat 
toe^ were tli.'M tied toixelli«T. aiul «hawii down the 
jKKt as far as mv joints coidd be stretched : ilie cord 
was passed round the p(xl two or thr<'e times and 
securely fastened. In i!ii< jx.^iire 1 hid no pijwer 
of motion, except in my neck, and could only move 
that at the ex|MMise of b^-itin-j my face a<_rain-t the 
side of the post. 

'• Thepeppt-rteawasnow brouiihl, and poun^d into 
a basin toctH>l, ami the overseer was desired to u:ive 
me a dozen lashes just aUne the waist-brml .md 
not to cover a s|kicc of more than fonr inches on my 
back, from the waistband upwards. He obeyed 
the in|unciion faithfully, but slowly. ;mw1 .'.icli crack 
of the whip wa.s followed by a sensation as painful 
as if a n'd hot iron had been drawn across my back. 
When the twelve strokes had been ^iven, the opera- 
tion was suspended, and a black man, one of the 
slaves present, was compelled to wash the gashes in 
my skin, with the scalding pep|)er tea, which was 
yet so hot that he could not hold his hand in ii. 
This doubly-burning liquid was thrown into my 



118 NARRATIVE OF THE 

raw and bleeding wounds, and produced a torment- 
ing smart, beyond the description of language. After 
a delay of ten minutes, by the watch, I received 
another dozen lashes, on the part of my back which 
was? immediately above the bleeding and burning 
gashes of the former whipping ; and again the bi- 
ting, stinging, pepper tea was applied to my lacera- 
ted and trembling muscles. This operation was 
continued at regular intervals, until I had received 
ninety-six lashes, and my back was cut and scalded 
from end to end. Every stroke of the whip had 
drawn blood ; many < f the gashes were three inch- 
es long; my back burned as if it had been covered 
by a coat of hot embers, mixed with living coals ; 
and I felt my flesh quiver like that of animals that 
have been slaughtered by the butcher and are flayed 
Avhilst yet half alive. My face was bruised, and 
my nose bled profusely, for in the madness of my 
agony, I had not been able to refrain from beating 
my head violently against the post. 

"Vainly did I beg and implore for mercy. I 
was kept bound to the pest with my whole weight 
hanging upon my thumbs, an hour and a half, but 
it appeared to me that 1 had entered upon eternity, 
and that my sufferings would never end. At length, 
how'ever, my feet we e unbound, and afterwards my 
hands ; but when released from the cords, I was so 
far exhausted as not to be able to stand, and my 
thumbs were stiff" and motionless. I was carried 
into the kitchen, and laid on a blanket, where my 
ss came to see me ; and after looking at my 



1DVENTURE3 OF CHARLES BALL. 119 

lacerated back, and telling mc that my wounds 
were only skin deep, said I had come ofV well, after 
what I had done, and that I ought to be thankful 
that it was not worse with me. She then bade me 
not to groan so loud, nor make so much noise, and left 
me to myself. 1 lay in this condition until it was 
quite dark, by which time the burning of my back 
had much abated, and was succeeded by an aching 
soreness, which rendered me unable to turn over, or 
bend my spine in the slightc-t manner. ^Iv mis- 
tress again visited me, and brouL^iii with lior about 
half a pound of fat bacon, which she made one of 
the bl;ick women roast before the ihc on a fork, un- 
til the oil ran freely from it, and then rub it warm 
over my back. This was repeated until I was 
greased from the neck to the hips, elTectually. An 
old blanket was then thrown over me, and I was 
left to pass the night alone. Such was the terror 
stricken into my fellow-slaves, by the example made 
of me, that, although they loved and pitied me, 
not one of them dared to approach me during this 
night. 

'•My strength was gone, and I at length fell 
asleep, from which 1 diJ not awake until the horn 
was blown the next moraiug, to call the people to 
the corn crib, to receive their weekly allowance of a 
peck of corn. I did not rise, nor attempt to join the 
other people, and shortly afterwards my master en- 
tered the kitchen, and in a soft and gentle tone of 
voice, asked me if I was dead. I answered him 
that I was not dead, and making some effort, found 



120 NARRATIVE OF THE 

I was able to get upon my feet. My master had be- 
come frightened when he missed me at the corn crib, 
and being suddenly seized with an apprehension 
that I was dead, his heart had become softened, not 
Avith compassion for my sufferings, but with the fear 
of losing his best field hand ; but when he saw me 
stand before him erect, and upright, the recollection 
of the lost sheep revived in his mind, and with it, 
all his feelings of revenge against the author of its 
death. 

'' ' So you are not dead yet, you thieving rascal/ 
said he ; and cursing me with many bitter oaths, 
ordered me to gofilong to tlie crib and get my corn, 
and go to work with the rest of the hands. I was 
forced to obey, and taking my basket of corn from 
the door of the crib, placed it in the kitchen loft, and 
went to the field with the other people. 

" Weak and exhausted as 1 was, I was compelled 
to do the work of an able hand, but was not per- 
mitted to taste the mutton, which was all given to 
the others, who w^ere carefully guarded whilst they 
were eating, lest they should give me some of it." 

This man's back was not yet well. Many of the 
gashes made by the lash were yet sore, and those 
that were healed had left long white stripes across 
his body. He had no notion of leaving the ser- 
vice of his tyrannical master, and his spirit was 
so broken and subdued, that he was ready to suffer 
and to bear all his hardships; not, indeed, with- 
out complaining, but without attempting to resist his 
oppressors, or to escape from their power. I saw 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 121 

him often whilst I leinaincil at this place, and ven- 
tured to tell him once that if 1 liad a master who 
would abuse me as his had abused him, I would run 
away. " Where could I run, or in what place could 
I conceal myself ? '' said he. " I have known many 
slaves who ran away, but they were always caught, 
and treated worse afterwards than tlioy had been 
before. I have heard that there is a place called 
Piiiladelphia, whore the black pcopl»^ are all free, but 
I do not know wliidi w;iy it lir>. nor what road J 
should take to i^o there ; and if I knew the way, 
how could I liofKJ to get there ? would not the patrol 
be sure to catch me .' " 

I pitied this unfortunate creature, and was at 
the same time fearful, that, in a short time, I should 
be equally the object of pity myself. How well my 
fears were justified the sctpicl of my narrative will 
show. 



CHAPTER Vni. 

We had been stationed in the old cotton-gin 
house, about twenty days, had recovered from the fa- 
tigues of our journey, and were greatly improved in 
our strength and appearance, when our master re- 
turned one evening, after an absence of two days, 
and told us that we must go to Columbia the next 
day ; and must, for this purpose, have our breakfast 
ready by sunrise. On the following morning he 
11 



122 NARRAl'IVE OF THK 

called us at daylight, and we made all despatch in 
preparing our morning repast, the last that we were 
to take in our present residence. 

As our equipments consisted of the few clothes we 
had on our persons, and a solitary blanket to each 
individual, our baggage was easily adjusted, and 
we were on the road before the sun was up half an 
hour ; and in less than an hour we were in Colum- 
bia, drawn up in a long line in the street opposite the 
court-house. 

The town, which was small and mean looking, 
was full of people, and I beheve that more than a 
thousand gentlemen came to look at us within the 
course of this day. We were kept in the street 
about an hour, and were then taken into the jail- 
yard and permitted to sit down ; but were not shut 
up in the jail. The court was sitting in Colum- 
bia at this time, and either this circumstance, or the 
intelligence of our arrival in the country, or both, had 
drawn together a very great crowd of people. 

We were supplied with victuals by the jailer, and 
had a small allowance of salt pork for dinner. We 
slept in the jail at night, and as none of us had been 
sold on the day of our arrival in Columbia, and we 
had not heard any of the persons who came to look 
at us make proposals to our master for our purchase, 
I supposed it might be his intention to drive us still 
farther south before he offered us for sale : but I dis- 
covered my error on the second day, which was 
Tuesday. This day the crowd in town was much 
greater than it had been on Monday ; and, about ten 



ADVF.NTURFS OF f IIARLES BALL. 123 

o'clock, oiir master ranic into the yard, in company 
with the jailer, and after l(X)kinir at ns some time, the 
latter addressed us in a short speech, which continued 
perhaps five miinites. In this harangue he told us wo 
had come to live in the finest country in the world ; 
that South Carolina was the richest and l>est part of 
the Unitecl Sutes ; and that he was going to sell us 
to gentlemen who would make Ui all very liappy, 
and would recpiire us to d<i no hard work ; hut only 
raise cotton and pi<'k it. He then ordered a hand- 
some vouuLT lad, al)oui ri^hteen years of age, to fol- 
low him into the street, wliere we ohserved a great 
concoui^^e of persons collected. Here the jailer made 
anotiier harangue to iIm' niuliiliitlr, in which he 
assured them that he was jusl about to sell ih*' mo>t 
valuable lot of slaves that had ever been ollered in 
Columbia. Tliat we were all young; in excellent 
health, of gootl habits, having l>een all purchased 
in VirLTinia. from the estates of tobacco planters ; 
and thai there was not one in the whole lot who 
had lost the use of a single fmger, or was blind of an 
eye. 

He then cried tiie poor lad for sale, and the first 
bid h<; received was two hundred dollars. Others 
quicklv succeeded, and the l)oy, who was a remark- 
ably handsome youth, was striken oflf in a few min- 
utes to a young man who appeared not nuich older 
than himself, at three hundred and fifty dollars. 
The purchaser paid down his price to our master on 
a table in the jail, and the lad, after bidding us fare- 



124 NARRATIVE OF THE 

well, followed his new master with tears running 
down his cheeks. 

He next sold a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen 
years old, for two hundred and fifty dollars, to a lady 
who attended the sales in her carriage, and made 
her bids out of the window. In this manner the 
sales were continued for about two hours and a half, 
when they were adjourned until three o'clock. In 
the afternoon they were again resumed, and kept 
open until about five o'clock, when they were closed 
for the day. As my companions were sold, they 
were taken from amongt us. and we saw them no 
more. 

The next morning, before day, I was awakened 
from my sleep by the sound of several heavy fires of 
cannon which were discharged, as it seemed to me, 
within a few yards of the place where I lay. These 
were succeeded by fifes and drums, and all the noise 
with which I had formerly heard the fourth of July 
ushered in, at the navy-yard in Washington. 

Since I had left Maryland I had carefully kept 
the reckoning of the days of the week ; but had not 
been careful to note the dates of the month ; yet as 
soon as daylight appeared, and the door of our 
apartment was opened, I inquired and learned, 
that this was, as I had supposed it to be, the day of 
universal rejoicing. 

I understood that the court did not sit this day, 
but a great crowd of people gathered, and remained 
around the jail, all the morning ; many of whom 
were intoxicated, and sang and shouted in honour 



ADVKNTURKS OF CHARLES IJALL. 125 

of free government, and ilio rights of man. About 
eleven o'clm-k. a long table was spread under a row 
of frees wbii li irrfnv in the street, not far from the 
jail, and whicli appeared to me, to be of the kind 
called in Pennsylvania, (he pride of China. At this 
table, several hmidrcd ptMsons sat down to (hnner, 
soon after noon ; and continued to eat, and drink, 
and sing songs in honour of lii)erty, for more than 
two hours. At the end i)( \\\r dinner, a gentleman 
rose and >\o<n\ ujion his chair, near one end of the 
table. a!id begged the company to |pv'»r him for a few 
mimife-*. lie informed thom licit he was a candi- 
date for some office — but what olVice it was I do not 
recollect— and said, that as it was an acknowledged 
princi[)le of our free government^ that all men were 
born free and (M|ual, he presumed if. would not l»e 
deemed an act of arrogance iti him, to call upon 
thetu for their voles, at the coming election. 

Thi- first speaker was succeeded by anofher, who 
addiessed his audience iti nearly the same lan- 
guage; and after he had coticlud*^!, iIk; com[)any 
broke up. I heird a black ni;m (li.it belonged to 
the j;iiler, or, who was at least in his service, say 
that there had l)een a great meeting that morning in 
the court house, at which several gentlemen had 
made speeches. 

When I lived at the navy-yard, the ofTicers some- 
times permitted me to go up town with them, ou 
the fourth of July, and listen to the fine speechea 
that were made there, on such occasions. 

About five o'clock, the jailer came and stood at 
IV 



126 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the front door of the jail, and proclaimed, in a very 
loud voice, that a sale of most valuable slaves would 
immediately take place ; that he had sold many fine 
hands yesterday, but they were only the refuse and 
most worthless part of the whole lot: — that those 
who wished to get great bargains and prime proj^er- 
ty, had better attend now : as it was certain that 
such negroes had never been offered for sale in Co- 
lumbia before. 

In a few minutes the whole assembly, that had 
composed the dinner party, and hundreds of others, 
were convened around the jail door, and the jailer 
again proceeded with his auction Several of the 
stoutest men, and handsomest women in the whole 
company, had been reserved for this day ; and I per- 
ceived that the very best of us, were kept back for 
the last. We went off at rather better prices than 
had been obtained on the former day ; and 1 per- 
ceived much eagerness amongst the bidders, many 
of whom were not sober. Within less than three 
hours, only three of us remained in the jail ; and we 
were ordered to come and stand at the door, in front 
of the crier who made a most extravagant eulogium 
upon our good qualities, and capacity to perform la- 
bour. He said, " These three fellows are as strong as 
horses, and as patient as mules ; one of them can do 
as much work as two common men, and they are 
perfectly honest. Mr. M'Giffin says, he was assured 
by their former masters, that they were never known 
to steal, or run away. They must bring good 
prices, gentlemen, or they will not be sold. Their 
master is determined, that if they do not bring six 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES RALL, 127 

hundred dollar?, he will not sell them, hut will take 
thfin to Cicoruna next siinuiier. and sell them to 
some of the new settlers. These boys can do any 
thinjT. This one,' referrinsr to ine, "can cut five 
cords of wood in a day, and put it up. He is a rough 
air})enter, and a first rate field hand.' 'This one,'' 
layiriij his hand on the shtnildcr of one of my com- 
panions, "is a blacksmith: and can lay a plouiih- 
share; put new steel uj)*>n an axe; or mend a hro- 
keu chain.' The other, he recommended as a good 
slK^'inaker ; and well ac(juaiiited with the pr(x:es« 
oflanninf^ leatlnT. 

\N I' were all nearly of the same aije ; and very 
stout, healthy, roiiust youni; men, in full possession 
of our cor[K)ral jxmers : and if we had been shut up 
in a nxiiii, wiili i.-iict the strongestof tiiose who had 
asscmhl<;d to purchase us, and our liberty had de- 
pended on tyini^ them fast to each other. I have no 
(loulii thai we should have been free, if ropes had 
been provided for us. 

After a few minutes of hesitancy amoiif'st the 
purchas«*rs, and a closer examination of our persons 
than had hf.ii inrulr in the jail-yard, an elderly 
gentleman saiil he would lake the car{)enter ; and 
the blacksmith, and shoemaker, were immediately 
taken by others, at the recjuired price. 

It was now sundown. The heat of the day had 
been very oppressive, and I was glad to be relea.sed 
from the confined air of the jail ; and the hot at- 
mosphere, in which so many hundreds were breath- 



128 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ing. My new master asked me my name, and or- 
dered me to follow hiin. 

We proceeded to a tavern, where a great number 
of persons were assembled, at a short distance frcm 
the jail. My master entered the house, and joined 
in the conversation of the party, in which the utmost 
hilarity prevailed. They were drinking toasts in 
honour of liberty and independence, over glasses of 
toddy ; a liquor composed of a mixture of rum, wa- 
ter, sugar, and nutmeg. 

It was ten o'clock at night before my master and 
his companions had finished their toasts and toddy : 
and all this time, I had been standing before the 
door, or sitting on a log of wood, that lay in front of 
the house. At one time, I took a seat on a bench, 
at the side of the house ; but was soon driven from 
this position by a gentleman, in military clothes, with 
a large gilt epaidet on each shoulder, and a profu- 
sion of glittering buttons on his coat; who passing 
near me in the dark, and happening to cast his eye 
on me, demanded of me, in an imperious tone, how 
1 dared to sit on that seat. I told him I was a 
stranger, and did not know that it was wrong to sit 
there. He then ordered me with an oath, to begone 
from there ; and said, if he caught me on that bench 
again, he would cut my head ofT. " Did you not 
see white people sit upon that bench, you saucy ras- 
cal ? " said he. I assured him I had not seen any 
white gentleman sit on the bench, as it was near 
night when I came to the house ; that I had not in- 
tended to be saucy, or misbehave myself; and that 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 129 

I hoped he would not be angry w ith nie, as my mas- 
ter had left me at the door, and had not told me 
where 1 was to sit. 

I remained on the log until the termination of the 
festival, in honour of liberty and equality ; when my 
master came to the door, and obacrvcd in my hear- 
ing, to some of his friends, that they had celebrated 
the day in a handsome manner. 

No person, except the miliuiry gentleman, had 
spoken to me, since I came to the house, in the even- 
ing with my master, who seemed to Jiave forgotten 
me ; for lie remained at the donr, warmly engaged 
in conversation, on various political subjects, a full 
hour after he rose from the toast party. At length, 
however, I heard him say — " I lx)ught a negro this 
evening, —I wonder where he is." I\i.sing immedi- 
ately from the log on which 1 had been so long seat- 
ed, I presented myself l)efore him, and said, "Here, 
master.'' He then ordered me to go to the kitchen 
of the inn, and go to sleep; but said nothing to me 
about bupper. I retired to the kitchen, where I found 
a large number of servants, who belonged to the 
house ; and amongst them two young girls, who 
had been purchased by a gentleman, who lived near 
Augusta ; and who, they told me, intended to set 
out fur his plantation the next morning, and take 
them with him. 

These girls had been sold out of our compiny on 
the first day ; and had been living in the tavern 
kitchen since that time. They appeared quite con- 
tented, and evinced no repugnance to setting out the 



130 NARRATIVE OF THE 

next morning for their master's plantation. They 
were of that order of people who never look beyond 
the present day : and so long as they had plenty of 
victuals, in this kitchen, they did not trouble them- 
selves with reflections upon the cotton field. 

One of the servants gave me some cold meat, and 
a piece of wheaten bread ; which was the first I had 
tasted since I left Maryland, and indeed, it was the 
last that I tasted, until I reached Maryland again. 

I here met with a man, who was born and brought 
up in the Northern Neck of Virginia, on the banks 
of the Potomac, and within a few miles of my native 
place. We soon formed an acquaintance ; and sat 
up nearly all night. lie was the chief hostler in the 
stable of this tavern ; and told me, that he had often 
thought of attempting to escape, and return to Vir- 
ginia. He said he had little doubt of being able to 
reach the Potomac ; but having no knowledge of 
the country, beyond that river, he was afraid that he 
should not be able to make his way to Philadelphia ; 
which he regarded as the only place in which he 
could be safe, from the pursuit of his master. 1 was 
myself then young, and my knowledge of the coun- 
try, north of Baltimore, was very vague and unde- 
fined. I, however, told him, that I had heard, that 
if a black man could reach any part of Pennsylvania, 
he would be beyond the reach of his pursuers. He 
said he could not justly complain of want of food ; 
but the services required of him were so unreasona- 
ble, and the punishment frequently inflicted upon 
him, so severe, that he was determined to set out for 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 131 

the north, as soon as the corn was so far ripe, as to 
1)6 lit to be roasted. He felt confident, that by lying 
in the woods, and unfrequented places all day, and 
travelling only by night, iie could escape the vigi- 
lance of all pursuit; and gain the Northern Neck, 
before the corn would be gathered from the fields. 
He had no fear of wanting food, as he could live 
well on roasiincr ears, as long as the corn was in the 
milk ; and afterward?;, on parched corn, as lonj]^ as 
the grain rem.'iiiii'd in the lit'ld. I advised him, as 
well as I could, as to thr l)est means of reachiiiii: the 
state of Pennsylvania ; but was not able to give him 
any very definite instructions. 

This man possessed a very sound understanding ; 
and having been five years in Carolina, was well 
acquainted with the country. He gave me such an 
account of the sulleriui^s of the slaves, on the cotton 
and indigo plantations— of whom I now regarded 
myself as one — that 1 was unable to sleep any this 
night. From the resolute manner in whicli he 
spoke of his intended elopement, and the regularity 
with which he had connected the various combina- 
tions of the enterprise, I have no doubt that he un- 
dertook that which he intended to })crform. Whe- 
ther he was successful or not, in the enterprise, I can- 
not say ; as I never saw him, nor heard of him, 
after the next morning. 

This man certainly communicated to me the out- 
lines of the plan, which I afterwards put in execu- 
tion ; and by which I gained my liberty, at the 
expense of sufferings, which none can appreciate, 



132 KhlRRATIVE OF THE 

except those who have borne all that the stoutest 
human constitution can bear, of cold and hunger, 
toil and pain. The conversation of this slave, 
aroused in my breast so many recollections of the 
past, and fears of the future, that I did not lie down ; 
but sat on an old chair until daylight. 

From the people of the kitchen I again received 
some cold victuals for my breakfast, but I did 
not see my master until about nine o'clock ; the 
toddy of the last evening, causing him to sleep 
late this morning. At length, a female slave gave 
me notice that my master wished to see me in the 
dining room, Avhither 1 repaired, without a mo- 
ment's delay. When I entered the room, he was 
sitting near the window, smoking a pipe, with a 
very long handle — I believe more than two feet in 
length. 

He asked no questions, but addressing me by the 
title of " boy," ordered me to go with the hostler of 
the inn, and get his horse and chaise ready. As 
soon as this order could be executed, 1 informed him 
that his chaise was at the door, and we immediately 
commenced our journey to the plantation of my 
master, which, he told me, lay at the distance of 
twenty miles from Columbia. He said I must keep 
up with him ; and, as he drove at the rate of five or 
six miles an hour, I was obliged to run, nearly half 
the time ; but I was then young, and could easily 
travel fifty or sixty miles in a day. It was with 
great anxiety that I looked for the place, which was in 
future to be my home ; but this did not prevent me 



ADVFNTrRF.3 OF rrTART.F.S RATI.. 133 

from makin;^ siicli observations iip^n the state of the 
country through which we travelled, as the rapidity 
of our march permitted. 

This whole region had orij^inally been one vast 
wiMcrness of pine fora-t, except the low t^rounds and 
river l)uttoms, here callexl swamps : in which all the 
varieties of trees, shrubs, vines, and plants, pecu- 
liar to such place;?, in southern latituiles, vctretatcd 
in unresirainetl luxuriance. Nor is pine the on- 
ly timber that j^rows on tht' upland-, in thi- p;iit 
of Carolina: aliliough it is the pre(I(»nunani tree, 
and in some places, prevails to the (;xclusion of every 
other — oak, hickory, sassafras, and many others arc 
found. 

Here, also, 1 lir-t ol.scrvcd groves of the most 
l)eautiful of all ihe trcrs of the wood — the gfeat 
Southern .Magnolia, or Grem Bay. No ade(juate 
conception can 1)C formed of the appearance, or the 
fragrance, of this most maj^nificent tree, by any one 
who has not seen it, or scented the air when tainted 
by the perfume of its flowers'. It rises in a rii^ht 
line to the heiuht of seventy or eii^hly feet ; the stem 
is of a delicate taper lorm. and easts ull' mmierous 
branches, in nearly ri;;ht ani,des with itself; the ex- 
tremities of which, decline gently towards the 
ground, and l>eeome shorter and shorter in the as- 
cent, until at the apex of the tree, they are scarcely 
a foot in length ; whilst below they are many times 
found twenty feet long. The immense cones form- 
ed by these trees are as perfect as those diminutive 
forms which nature exhibits in the bur of the pine 
12 



134 NARRATIVE OF THE 

tree. The leaf of the magnoHa is smooth, of an 
oblong taper form, about six inches in length, and 
half as broad. Its colour is the deepest and purest 
green. The foliage of the Bay tree is as impervious 
as a brick wall to the rays of the sun, and its re- 
freshing coolness, in the heat of a summer day, 
affords one of the greatest luxuries of a cotton plan- 
tation. It blooms in May, and bears great numbers 
of broad, expanded white flowers, the odour of which 
is exceedingly grateful, and so abundant, that 1 
have no doubt, that a grove of these trees, in full 
bloom, may be smelled at a distance of fifteen or twen- 
ty miles. I have heard it asserted in the south, that 
their scent has been perceived by persons fifty or 
sixty miles from them. 

This tree is one of natures most splendid, and in 
the climate where she has placed it, one of her most 
agreeable productions. It is peculiar to the southern 
temperate latitudes, and cannot bear the rigours of a 
northern winter ; though I have heard that groves 
of the Bay are found on Fishing Creek, in Western 
Virginia, not far from Wheeling, and near the Ohio 
river. Could this tree be naturalized in Pennsylva- 
nia, it would form an ornament to her towns, cities, 
and country seats, at once the most tasteful and the 
most delicious. A forest of these trees, in the month 
of May, resembles a wood, enveloped in an untime- 
ly fall of snow at midsummer, glowing in the rays 
of a morning sun. 

We passed this day through cotton fields and 
pine woods, alternately ; but the scene was some- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



135 



times enlivened by the appearance of lots of corn, 
and sweet potatoes, which, I observed, were gene- 
rally planted near the houses. I afterwards learn- 
ed that this custom of planting the corn and po- 
tatoes near the house of the planter, is general 
over all Carolina. The object is, to prevent the 
slaves from stealing; and thus procuring more 
food, than, by the laws of the plantation, they are 
entitled to. 

In passing through a lane, I this day saw a field, 
which appeared to me to contain about fifty acres, in 
which people were at work with hoes, amongst a 
sort of plants that I had never seen before. I asked 
my master what this was, and he told me it was in- 
digo. I shall have occasion to say more of this 
plant hereafter. 

We at Iciigtli ai lived ai lKc icblUcnce of my mas- 
ter, who descended from his chaise, and leaving me 
in charge of the horse at the gate, proceeded to the 
house, across a long court yard. In a few minutes 
two young ladies, and a young gentleman, came out 
of the house, and walked to the gate, near which I 
was with the horse. One of the ladies said, they 
had come to look at me, and see what kind of a boy 
her pa had brought home with him. The other 
one said I was a very smart looking boy ; and 
this compliment llattered me greatly ; they being 
the first kind words that had been addressed to 
me since I left Maryland. The young gentleman 
asked me if I could run fast, and if I had ever picked 
cotton. His manner did not impress me so much ia 



136 NARRATIVE OF THE 

his favour, as the address of his sister had done 
for her. These three young persons were the son 
and daughters of my master. After looking at me 
a short time, my young master, (for so I must now 
call him,) ordered me to take the harness from the 
horse, give him water at a well which was near, and 
come into the kitchen, where some boiled rice was 
given me for my dinner. 

I was not required to go to work this first day of 
my abode in my new residence : but after I had 
eaten my rice, my young master told me 1 might 
rest myself or walk out and see the plantation, but 
that I must be ready to go with the overseer the 
next morning. 



(JHAFIEK IX. 

By the laws of the United States I am still a slave ; 
and though 1 am now growing old, 1 might even 
yet be deemed of sufficient value to be worth pursu- 
ing as far as my present residence, if those to whom 
the law gives the right of dominion over my person 
and life, knew where to find me. For these reasons 
I have been advised, by those whom 1 believe to be 
my friends, not to disclose the true names of any of 
those families in which I was a slave, in Carolina 
or Georgia, lest this narrative should meet their eyes, 
and in some way lead them to a discovery of my 
retreat. 

1 was now the slave of one of the most \vealthy 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 137 

planters in Carolina, who planted cotton, rice, indigo, 
corn, and potatoes ; and ^vas the master of two hun- 
dred and sixty slaves. 

The description of one great cotton plantation will 
give a correct idea of all others ; and I shall here 
present an outline of that of my master. 

He lived about two miles from Caugaree river ; 
which bordered bis estate on one side, and in ihc 
swamps of which were bis rice fields. The country 
liereabout is very Hat; tbe bunks of tbc river are 
low ; and in wet seasons large tracts of country are 
Hooded by the superabundant water of the river. 
Tbere are no springs ; and the only means of pro- 
curing water, on the plantations, is from wells, wbich 
must be sunk in general about twenty feet deep, be- 
fore a constant supply of water can be obtained. 
My mister had two of these wells on his plantation ; 
one at the mansion house, and one at the quarter. 

My master's house was of brick, (brick houses 
are by no means conmion amongst the planters, 
whose residences are generally built of frame work, 
weatber boarded with pine boards, and covered with 
shingles of the white cedar or juniper cypress,) and 
contained two laige parlours, and a spacious hall or 
entry on the ground door. The main building 
was two stories high ; and attached to this was a 
smaller building, one story and a half high, with a 
large room, where the family generally took break- 
fast ; w4th a kitchen at the farther extremity from 
the main building. 

There was a spacious garden behind the house, 
13* 



138 NARRATIVE OF THE 

containing, I believe, about five acres, well cultiva- 
ted, and handsomely laid out. In this garden grew 
a great variety of vegetables ; some of which I 
have never seen in the market of Philadelphia. It 
contained a profusion of flowers, three different shrub- 
beries, a vast number of ornamental and small fruit 
trees, and several small hot houses, with glass roofs. 
There was a head gardener, who did nothing but 
attend to this garden through the year ; and during 
the summer he generally had two men and two 
boys to assist him. In the months of April and 
May this garden was one of the sweetest and most 
pleasant places that I ever was in. At one end of 
the main building was a small house, called the li- 
brary, in which my master kept his books and pa- 
pers, and where he spent much of his time. 

At some distance from the mansion was a pigeon 
house, and near the kitchen was a large wooden 
building, called the kitchen quarter, in which the 
house servants slept ; and where they generally 
took their meals. Here, also, the washing of the 
family was done ; and all the rough or unpleasant 
work of the kitchen department, — such as clcanino- 
and salting fish, putting up pork, &c. was assigned 
to this place. 

There was no barn on this plantation, according 
to the acceptation of the word barti in Pennsylvania; 
but there was a wooden building, about forty feet 
long, called the coach-house ; in one end of which 
the family carriage, and the chaise in which my 
master, rode were kept. Under the same roof was a 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 139 

Stable, sufficiently capacious to contain ten or twelve 
horses. In one end of the building the corn intended 
for tbe horses was kept ; and the whole of the loft, 
or upper story, was occupied by the fodder, or blades 
and tops of the corn. 

About a quarter of a mile from the tlwelling-house 
were the huts or cabins of the plantation slaves, or 
field hands, sUindini^ in rows, nnich like the Indian 
viliai^es wbirh I have seen in the country of the 
Cherokees. These cabins were thirfy-eight in 
nuiiibf r, generally about fifteen or i^ixteen feet 
s(|uare, built of hewn logs, covered with shingles, 
and provided with lloors of pine boards. These 
houses were all dry and conifortablr, and were pro- 
vided with chininics, so that the p<'ople when in 
them, were well sheltcrt'd from the inclemencies of 
the weather. In this praciice of k<M'|»ing their slaves 
well sheltered at uiuht, the southern planters are 
pretty uniform : lor they know that upon this cir- 
cumstance, more than any other in that climate, 
depends the health of the slave, and consequently 
his value. 

In thei^e thirty-eight cabins were lodged two hun- 
dred and lifiy people, of all ages, sexes, and sizes. 
Ten or twelve were generally employed in the gar- 
den, and about the house. 

At a distance of about one hundred yards from 
the lines of cabins stood the house of the overseer ; a 
small two-story log building, with a yard and gar- 
den attached to it of proportionate dimensions. This 
small house was the abode of a despot, more abso- 



140 NARRATIVE OF THE 

lute, and more cruel than were any of those we read 
of in the Bible, who so grievously oppressed the 
children of Israel. In one corner of the overseer's 
garden stood the corn crib, also a log building, in 
which was stored up the corn, constituting the yearly 
provisions of the coloured people. In another corner 
of the same garden was a large vault, covered with 
sods, very like some ice-houses that I have seen. 
This was the potato-house, and in it were deposited 
the sweet potatoes, also intended to supply the people. 

At a short distance beyond the garden of the 
overseer stood a large building, constituting the 
principal feature in the landscape of every great 
cotton plantation. This was the house containing 
the cotton-gin, and the sheds to contain the cotton, 
when brought from the field in the seed ; and also 
the bales, after being pressed and prepared for mar- 
ket. 

As I shall be obliged to make frequent references 
to the cotton-gin, it may perhaps be well to describe 
it. Formerly there was no way of separating the 
cotton from the seed, but by pulling it off with the 
fino-ers— a very tedious and troublesome process — 
but a person from the north, by the name of Whit- 
ney, at length discovered the gin, which is a very 
simple though very powerful machine. It is com- 
posed of a wooden cylinder, about six or eight feet in 
leno-th, surrounded at very short intervals, with 
small circular saws, in such a manner that as the 
cyhnder is turned rapidly round, by a leather 
strap on the end, similar to a turner's lathe, the 



ADVENTURKS OF CHARLES BALL. 141 

teeth of the saw.-, in turning- over, continually cut 
downwards in front of the cyhnder, which is placed 
close to a long hopper, extending the whole length 
of the cylinder, and so close to it that the seeds of the 
cotton cannot pass between them. This cylinder re- 
volves, with almost inconceivable rapidity, and great 
caution is necessary in workin<Twith the gin, not to 
touch the saws. One rn.l of the cylinder and hop- 
per being sliL^htly elevatrd, the seeds as they are 
stripped of tlie wool, are 'gradually but certainly 
inoV(Ml toward (he lower rnd. where thev drop down 
into a heap, after being as |)erfectly divested of the 
cotton as they could be by the most careful picking 
with the fingers. 

The rapid evolutions of the cylinder are procured 
by the aid of cogs and wheels, similar to those used 
ill Mii.ill yiist niills. 

It is necessary to !>« \ery careful in working about 
a cotton-Grin : more especially in hmuov ing the seeds? 
from before the saws : for if they do but touch the 
hand the injury is very great. I kn«?w a black man 
who had all the sinews of the inner part of his right 
hand torn out— some of them measuring more than 
a f(X)t in length— and the flesh of his palm cut into 
tatters, by carelessly putting his hand too near the 
saws, when they were in motion, for the idle purpose 
of feeling the strength of the current of air created 
by the motions of the cylinder. A good gin will clean 
several thousand pounds of cotton, in the seed, in a 
day. To work the gin two horses are necessary j 
though one is often compelled to perform the labour. 



142 NARRATIVE OF THE 

There was no smoke-house, nor any other place, 
for curing or preserving meat, attached to the quar- 
ter ; and whilst I was on this plantation no pork was 
ever salted for the use of the slaves. 

After remaining in the kitchen some time, I went 
into the garden, and remained with the gardener, 
assisting him to work until after sundown ; when 
my old master came to the gate, and called one of 
the garden boys to him. The boy soon returned, 
and told me I must go with him to the quarter, as 
his master had told liim to take me to the overseer. 
When we arrived at the overseer's house he had not 
yet returned from the field ; but in a few minutes 
we saw him coming at some distance through a 
cotton field, followed by a s^reat number of black 
people. As he approached us, the boy that was 

■with n^o liai:iclccl him a email piece of papci, vrhicK 

he carried in his hand, and without saying a word^ 
ran back toward the house, leaving me to become 
acquainted with the overseer in the best way I could. 
But 1 found this to be no difficult task ; for he had 
no sooner glanced his eye over the piece of paper, 
than, turning to me, he asked me my name ; and 
calling to a middle-aged man who was passing us 
at some distance, told him he must take me to live 
with him, and that my supper should be sent to me 
from his own house. 

I followed my new friend to his cabin, which I 
found to be the habitation of himself, his wife, and 
five children. The only furniture in this cabin, con- 
sisted of a few blocks of wood for seats ; a short 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 143 

liench, made of a pine board, which served as a 
table ; and a small bed in one corner composed of a 
mat, made of common rushes, spread upon some 
corn husks, pulled and split into fine pieces, and kept 
together by a narrow slip of wood, confined to the 
floor by wooden pins. There was a common iron 
pDt, standing beside the chiiuney; and several 
wooden spoons and dishes hung ai^^ainst the wall. 
Several blankets also hung a^rainst the wall upon 
wn(j(]rii j,i„s. An (.1(1 box, made of pine boards, 
without L'iiher lock or hinges, occupied one corner. 

At iho lime I entered this humble abode the mis- 
tress was nut at home. She had not yet returned 
from the field ; having been sent, as the husband in- 
formed me, with some other people late in the even- 
mg, to do some work in a field alxnit two miles dis- 
tant. I found a child, about a year old, lying on 
the mat-bed, and a little girl about four }ears old 
sitting l^eside it. 

These children were entirely naked, and when 
we came to the door, the elder rose from its place 
and ran to its father, and clasping him round one of 
his knees, said, '• Now we shall get good supper." 
The fither laid his hand upon the head of his naked 
child, and stood silently looking in its face — which 

was turned upwards toward his own for a moment 

and then turning to me. said, " Did you leave any 
children at home?" The scene before me— the 
question propounded— and the manner of this poor 
man and his child, caused my heart to swell until 
my breast seemed too small to contain it. My soul 



144 NARRATIVE OF THE 

fled back upon the wings of fancy to my wife's 
lowly dwelling in Maryland ; where I had been so 
often met on a Saturday evening, when I paid them 
my weekly visit, by my own little ones, who clung 
to my knees for protection and support, even as the 
poor little wretch now before me, seized upon the 
weary limb of its hapless and destitute father, hop- 
ing that, naked as he was, (for he too was naked, 
save only the tattered remains of a pair of old trou- 
sers,) he w^ould bring with his return at evening its 
customary scanty supper. I was unable to reply ; 
but stood motionless, leaning against the walls of 
the cabin. My children seemed to flit by the door 
in the dusky twilight : and the twittering of a swal- 
low, which that moment fluttered over my head, 
sounded in my ear as the infantile tittering of my 
own little boy ; but on a moment's reflection I knew 
that we were separated without the hope of ever 
again meeting ; that they no more heard the wel- 
come tread of my feet, and could never again receive 
the little gifts with which, poor as I was, I was ac- 
customed to present them. I was far from the place 
of my nativity, in a land of strangers, with no one 
to care for me beyond the care that a master bestows 
upon his ox ; with all my future Ufe, one long, 
waste, barren desert, of cheerless, hopeless, lifeless 
slavery ; to be varied only by the pangs of hunger 
and the stings of the lash. 

My revery was at length broken by the appear- 
ance of the mother of the family, with her three eld- 
est children. The mother wore an old ragged shift ; 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 145 

but the children, the eldest of whom appeared to be 
about twelve, and the youngest six years old, were 
quite naked. When she came in, the husband told 
her that the overseer had sent me to liv<' witli them • 
and she and her oldest child, wlio was a boy, im- 
njediately set aU)ut preparing their supper, by boil 
ing some of the leaves of the weed called lamb's- 
quarter, in the pi.t. Tiiis, together with some cake-' 
of cold corn bread, formed their supper. My supper 
was brought to me from the house of the overseer 
by a small girl, his daughter. It was about half a 
pound of bread, cut from a loaf made of corn meal. 
My companions gave me a part of their boiled 
greens, and we all sat down together to my fnst meal 
in my new habitation. 

I had no other bed than the i)lankct which I had 
brought with me from .Alary land; and 1 went to sleep 
in the loft of the cabin which was assiirncd t(, ,,,(3 ^s 
my sleeping room ; and in which I continued to lodge 
as long as I remained on this plantation. 

The next iiiorning I was waked, at the break of 
day, by the sound of a horn, which was blown very 
loudly. Perceiving that it was growing light, I 
came down, and went out immediately in front of 
the house of the overseer, who was standing near his 
own gate, blowing the horn. In a few minutes the 
whole of the working people, from all the cabins 
were assembled ; and as it was now light enoutrh 
for me distinctly to see such objects as were about 
me, I at once perceived the nature of the servitude to 
which I was, in future, to be sul)ject. 



146 NARRATIVE OF THE 

As I have before stated, there were altogether on 
this plantation, two hundred and sixty slaves ; but 
the number was seldom stationary for a single week. 
Births were numerous and frequent, and deaths 
were not uncommon. When I joined them I be- 
Ueve we counted in all two hundred and sixty-three ; 
but of these only one hundred and seventy went to 
the field to work. The others w^ere children, too 
small to be of any service as labourers ; old and 
bUnd persons, or incurably diseased. Ten or twelve 
were kept about the mansion-house and garden, 
chosen from the most handsome and sprightly of the 
gang. 

I think about one hundred and sixty-eight assem- 
bled this morning, at the sound of the horn — two or 
three being sick, sent word to the overseer that they 
could not come. 

The overseer wrote something on a piece of paper, 
and gave it to his little son. This I was told was a 
note to be sent to our master, to inform him that 
some of the hands were sick — it not being any part 
of the duty of the overseer to attend to a sick negro. 

The overseer then led off to the field, with his 
horn in one hand and his whip in the other ; we 
following — men, women, and children, promiscuous- 
ly — and a wretched looking troop we were. There 
was not an entire garment amongst us. 

More than half of the gang were entirely naked. 
Several young girls, who had arrived at puberty, 
wearing only the livery with which nature had orna- 
mented them, and a great number of lads, of an 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 47 

equal or superior age, appeared in the same costume. 
There was neither bonnet, cap, nor head dress of 
any kind amongst u^, except the old straw hat that 
I wore ; and which my wife had made for me in 
Maryland. This I soon laid aside to avoid the ap- 
pearance of singularity ; and, as owing to the severe 
treatment I had endured whilst travelling in chains, 
and being comprHed to sleep on the naked floor, 
without undressing myself, my clothes were quite 
worn out, I did not make a much better figure than 
my companions ; though still I preserved the sem- 
blance of clothing so far, that it could be seen that 
my shirt and trousers had once been distinct and 
separate garments. Not one of the others had on 
even the remains of two pieces of apparel. Some 
of the men had old shirts, and some ragged trousers, 
but no one wore both. Amongst the women, seve- 
ral wore petticoats, and many had shifts. Not one 
of the whole number wore both of these vestments. 
We walked nearly a mile through one vast cotton 
field, before we arrived at the place of our intended 
day's labour. At last the overseer stopped at the 
side of the iuAd, and calling to several of the men 
by name, ordered them to call their companies and 
turn into their rows. The work we had to do to- 
day was to hoe and weed cotton, for the last time ; 
and the men whose names had been called, and 
who were, I believe, eleven in number, were desig- 
nated as captains, each of whom had under his 
command a certain number of the other hands. 
The captain was the foreman of his company, and 



wil\ him. 
— a 

^ f< Cc.I>- 



woix. aiflcl te 



ire v«=ar= Gt ase : and fbf =cme reasiQ iin 



k^ ai»:'i" "ii-r ±«^li " ■ : se? ihat car w: 



femse: 



51 hisii- an«i in 



«f son grew m a ccro^r ot 

f ' ^ . I here -' ~ ' rt 



A 1) VENTURES OF CHARLES EaLL. 149 

of corn bread, thai had been caked in ihe ashes. 
The water was for us to d/ink. and the bread was 
our breakfast. The Lttle son of the oTerseer was 
also in the can, and had brought with him the 
breakfast of his Jaiher. m a small wooden buckeu 

The overseer had bread, butter, cold ham. and 
cojfee for his breakfast. Ours was composed of a 
corn cake, weighing ab*3ut three quarters of a pound. 
to each person, with as much water as was desL-ed. 
I at first supposed that this bread was dealt out to 
the people as their allowance : but on further inquiry 
I found this not to Lie the case. Simon, by who^ 
si(^ I was now at work, and who seemed much 
pleased with my agility aud diligence in my duly, 
told me that here, as well as every where in this 
country, each person received a peck of corn at the 
crib door, every Sunday evening, and that in ordi- 
nary times, every one had to grind this com and 
bake it, for him or herself, maldng such use of it as 
the owner thought proper : but that for some time 
past, the overseer, tor the purpose of saving the rime 
which had been lost in baking the bread, had made 
ii the duty of an old woman, who was not capable 
01 doing much wcwk in the field, to stay at the quar- 
ter, and bake the bread of the whole gang. When 
baked, it was brought to the field in a can, as I s ?.w. 
and dealt out in loaves. 

They still had to grind their own corn, after 
nigbi : and as there were only three hand-mills on 
the plantation, he said they experienced much diffi- 
culty in convening their corn into meal T\ e work- 
1 '^* 

10 



150 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ed in this field all day ; and at the end of every 
hour, or hour and a quarter, we had permission to go 
to the cart, which was moved about the field, so as 
to be near us, and get water. 

Our dinner was the same, in all respects, as our 
breakfast, except that, in addition to the bread, we 
had a little salt, and a radish for each person. We 
were not allowed to rest at either breakfast or din- 
ner, longer than while we were eating ; and we 
worked in the evening as long as we could distin- 
guish the weeds from the cotton plants. 

Simon informed me, that formerly, when they 
baked their own bread, they had left their work 
soon after sundown, to go home and bake for the 
next day, but the overseer had adopted the new po- 
hcy for the purpose of keeping them at work until 
dark. 

When we could no longer ee to work, the horn 
was again sounded, and we returned Jiome. I 
had now lived through one of the days —a succes- 
sion of which make up the hfe of a slave— on a 
cotton plantation. 

As we went out in the morning, I observed seve- 
ral women, who carried their young children in 
their arms to the field. These mothers laid their 
children at the side of the fence, or under the shade 
of the cotton plants, whilst they were at work ; and 
when the rest of us went to get water, they would 
go to give suck to their children, requesting some 
one to bring them water in gourds, which they were 
careful to carry to the field with them. One young 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 151 

woman did not, like the othersj leave her child at 
the end of the row, but had contrived a sort of rude 
knapsack, made of a piece of coarse linen cloth, in 
which she fastened her child, which was very young, 
upon her back ; and in this way carried it all day, 
and performed her task at the hoe with the other 
people. 

I pitied this woman ; and as we were going 
home at night, I came near her, and spoke to her. 
Perceiving as soon as she spoke that she had not 
been brought up amongst the slaves of this planta- 
tion—for her language was different from theirs— I 
asked her why she did not do as the other women 
did, and leave her chikl at the end of the row in the 
shade. " Indeed," said she, '•' I cannot leave my 
child in the weeds amongst the snakes. What 
would be my feelings if I should leave it there, and 
a scorpion were to bite it? Besides, my child cries 
so piteously, when I leave it alone in the field, that I 
cannot bear to hear it. Poor thing, I wish we were 
both in the grave, where all sorrow is forgotten." 

I asked this woman, who did not appear to be 
more than twentj^years old, how long she had been 
here, and where she came from. "I have been 
here," said she, '-almost two sears, and came from 
the Eastern Shore. 1 once hved as well as any lady 
in Maryland. I was born a slave, in the family of 
a gentleman whose name was Le Compt. My mas- 
ter was a man of property ; lived on his estate, and 
entertained much company. My mistress, who was 
very kind to me, made me her nurse, when I was 



152 NARRATIVE OF THE 

about ten years old, and put me to live with her own 
children. I grew up amongst her daughters ; not 
as their equal and companion, but as a favoured and 
indulged servant. 1 was always well dressed, and 
received a portion of all the delicacies of their table. 
1 wanted nothing, and had not the trouble of provi- 
ding even for myself. I believe there was not a 
happier being in the world than I was. At present 
none can be more wretched. 

" When 1 was yet a child, my master had given 
me to his oldest daughter, who was about one year 
older than I was. To her, I had always looked as 
my future mistress; and expected that whenever 
she became a wife, I should follow her person, and 
cease to be a member of the family of her father. 
When I was almost seventeen, my young mistress 
married a gentleman of ihe Eastern Shore of A^ir- 
ginia, who had been addressing her, more than a 
year. 

" Soon after the wedding was over, my new mas- 
ter removed his wife to his own residence ; and took 
me and a black boy of my own age, that the lady's 
father had given her, with hira. ^ He had caused it 
to be reported in Maryland, that he was very 
wealthy ; and was the owner of a plantation, with 
a large stock of slaves and other property. It was 
supposed at the time of the marriage, that my young 
mistress was making a very good match, and all 
her friends were pleased with it. When her lover 
came to visit her, he always rode in a handsome gig, 
accompanied by a black man on horseback, as his 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



153 



servant. This man told us in the kitchen, that his 
master was one of the most fashionable men in Vir- 
ginia ; was a man of large fortune, and that all the 
young ladies in the county he lived in, had their eyes 
upon him. These stories I repeated carefully to my 
young mistress ; and added every persuasion that I 
could think of, to induce her to accept her lover, as 
her husband. My feelings had become deeply in- 
terested in the issue of this matter ; for whilst the 
master was striving to win the heart of my young 
mistress, the servant had already conquered mine. 

'Tt was more than a hundred miles from the resi- 
dence of my old master, to that of my young one ; 
and when we arrived at the latter place, my mistress 
and I soon found, that we had been equally credu- 
lous, and were equally deceived. We were taken to 
an old dilapidated mansion, which was quite in 
keeping with every thing on the estate to which it 
was attached. The house was almost without fur- 
niture ; and there were no servants in it, except my- 
self and my companion. The black man who had 
so eilectually practiced upon me, belonged to one of 
my new master's companions. — and had a wife and 
three children in the neighbourhood. 

" My mistress, soon discovered that her husband's 
companions were gamblers and horse racers ; who 
frequendy convened at her house, to concert or ma- 
ture some scheme, the object of which was to cheat 
some one. 

" My old master was a member of the church, and 
was very scrupulous in the observance of his moral 



154 NARRATIVE OF THE 

duties. His precepts had been deeply implanted in 
the mind of my young mistress ; and the society of 
these sportsmen, (as the friends of my young master 
denominated themselves.) became so revolting to her 
feehngs, that after she had been married nearly a 
year, and had exhausted all her patience, and all her 
fortitude, in endeavouring to reclaim her husband 
from the vile associations and pursuits, by which his 
time and his affections were engaged, she determin- 
ed at last to return to her father, for a time, and to 
take me with her, for the purpose of ascertaining 
whether tliis would net bring him to reflect uj on the 
wrong he had done her, as well as himself. 

" She communicated to me her designs, and we 
were waiting for an opportunity of carrying them 
into effect, when one evening, near sundown, my 
master came to me in the kitchen ; and told me he 
wished me to go to the house of a gentleman who 
lived about a mile distant, and dehver a letter for 
him ; without letting my mistress know any thing 
of the matter, I immediately set out, expecting to 
return in half an hour. As I left the house I saw 
my mistress in the garden ; and I never saw her 
again. 

•' Between the house of my master, and that to 
which he had sent me, was a grove of young pine 
trees, that had grown up in a field, that had former- 
ly been cultivated ; but which had been neglected, 
on account of its poverty, for many years. Through 
this thicket, the path which I had to travel led ; and 
when near the middle of the wood, I saw a white 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 155 

man step into the path, only a few yards before me, 
with a rope in his hand. Sometime before this, my 
mistress had told me, that she wished to get me 
back to her father's house in Maryland, because she 
was afraid that my master would sell me to the ne- 
gro buyers ; and the moment I saw tlie man with 
the rope, in my path, the words of my mistress were 
recollected. 

" I screamed, and turned to lly towards home ; 
]jut at the first step was met by the coloured man, 
who had attended my master, as his servant, when 
he visited Maryland, at the time he was courting 
my mistress — and who had made so deep an im- 
pression on my heart. This was the first time I had 
seen him, since 1 came to live in Virginia ; and base 
as I knew he must be. from his former conduct to 
me, yet at sight of him, my former affection for a 
moment revived, and I rushed into his arms which 
were extended towards me, hoping that he would 
save me from the danger I so much dreaded from 
beliind. He saw that I was frightened, and had 
iled to him for protection, and only said, ' Come with 
me.' ] followed him, more by instinct than by rea- 
son, and holding to his arm, ran as fast as I could — 
I knew not whither. I did not observe whether we 
were on the path or not. I do not know how far 
we had run, when he stopped, and said — 'We must 
remain here for some time.' 

" In a few minutes the wliite man whom I had 
seen in the path, came up with us, and seizing me 
by the hands, he and my pretended protector bound 



156 NARRATIVE OF THE 

them together, at my back, and to suppress my cries, 
tied a large handkerchief round my head, and over 
my mouth. It was now becoming dark, and they 
hurried out of the wood, and across the fields, to a 
small creek, the water of which fell into the Chesa- 
peake Bay. Here was a boat ; and anotiier white 
man in it. They forced me on board ; and the 
white men taking the oars, whilst the black mana- 
ged the rudder, we were quickly out in the bay, and 
in less than an hour, I was on board a small 
schooner, lying at anchor; where I found eleven 
others, who like myself, had been dragged from their 
homes and their friends, to be sold to the southern 
traders. 

" I have no doubt, that my master had sold me 
without the knowledge of my mistress ; and that he 
endeavoured to persuade her, that I had run away : 
perhaps he was successful in this endeavour. 

" I heard no more of my mistress, for whom I was 
very sorry, for I knew she would be greatly distress- 
ed at losing me. 

" The vessel remained at anchor where we found 
her that night, and the next day until evening, 
when she made sail, and beat up the bay all night 
against a head wind. When she approached the 
western shore, she hoisted a red handkerchief at her 
mast head, and a boat cam© off from the land, large 
enough to carry us all, and we were removed to a 
house on the bank of York river, where I found 
about thirty men and women, all imprisoned in the 
cellar of a small tavern. The men were in irons, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 157 

but the women were not bound with any thing. 
Tlie cords and Jiandkerchief had been taken from 
me, whilst on board the vessel. We remained at 
York river more than a week ; and whilst there, 
twenty-five or thirty persons were brought in, and 
shut up with us. 

" When we commenced our journey for the south, 
we were about sixty in number. The men were 
chained together, Ijut the women were all left (juite 
at liberty. At the end of three weeks, we reached 
Savannah river, oj)posite the town of Augusta, where 
we were sold out by our owner. Our present master 
was there, and purchased me and another woman 
who has been at work in the field to-day. 

"Soon after I was brought home, the overseer 
compelled me to l)e married to a man I did not like. 
He is a native of Africa, and still retains the manners 
and religion of his country, lie has not been with 
us to day, as he is sick, and under the care of the 
doctor. I nmst hasten home to get my supper, and 
go to rest ; and glad I should be, if I were never to 
rise again. 

'•I have several times been whipped unmercifully, 
because 1 was not strong enough to do as much 
work with the hoe, as the other women, who have 
lived all their lives on this plantation, and have been 
accustomed from tlieir infancy to work in the field. 

" For a long time after I was brought here, I 

thought it would be impossible for me to live, on the 

coarse and scanty food, with which we are supplied. 

When I contrast my former happiness with my pres- 

14 



168 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ent misery, I pray for death to deliver me from my 
sufferings." 

I was deeply affected by the narrative of this 
woman, and as we had loitered on our way, it was 
already dark, whilst we w^ere at some distance from 
the quarter ; but the sound of the overseer's horn, 
here interrupted our conversation— at hearing w^hich, 
she exclaimed, <' We are too late, let us run, or we 
shall be whipped :" and setting off as fast as she could 
carry her child, she left me alone. A moment's re- 
flection, however, convinced me that I too had better 
quicken my pace — I quickly passed the w^oman, en- 
cumbered with her infant, and arrived in the crowd 
of the people, some time, perhaps a minute, be- 
fore her. 



CHAPTER X. 

At the time I joined the company, the overseer 
was calling over the names of the whole, from a 
little book ; and the first name that 1 heard was 
that of my companion whom 1 had just left, w hich 
was Lydia— called by him Lyd. As she did not 
answ^er, I said, "Master, Lydia, the woman that 
carries the baby on her back, will be here in a min- 
ute—I left her just behind." The overseer took no 
notice of what I said, but went on with his roll-call. 

As the people answered to their names, they pass- 
ed off to the cabins, except three— two women and 
a man ; who, when their names were called, were 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 159 

ordered to go into the yard, in front of the overseer's 
house. My name was the last on the hst ; and 
when it was called I was ordered into the yard with 
the three others. Just as wc had entered, Lydia 
came up out of hreath, with the child in her arms; 
and following us into the yard, dropped on her knees 
i)( fore the overseer, and begged him to forgive her. 
'Where have you been?" said he. Poor Lydia 
now burst into tears, and said, "I only stopped to 
talk awhile to this man," pointing to me ; '• but, in- 
deed, master overseer, I will never do so again.'' 
'• Lie down," was his reply. 1 -ydia immediately fell 
prostrate upn the ground : and in this position he 
compelled her to remove her old tow Hnen shift, the 
only garment she wore, so as to expose her hi[)s, 
when he gave her ten lashes, with his long whip, 
every touch of which brought blood, and a shriek 
from the sulferer. lie then ordered her to go and 
get her supper, with an injunction never to stay be- 
hind again. The other three culprits were then put 
upon their trial. 

The first was a middle aged woman, who had, 
as her overseer said, left several hills of cotton in 
the course of the day, without cleaning and hilling 
them in a proper manner. She received twelve 
lashes. The other two were charged in general 
terms, with having been lazy, and of having neg- 
lected their work that day. Each of these received 
twelve lashes. 

These people all received punishment in the same 
manner that it had been inflicted upon Lydia, and 



160 NARRATIVE OF THE 

when they were all gone, the overseer turned to me 
and said — " Boy, you are a stranger here yet, but I 
called you in, to let you see how things are done 
here, and to give you a little advice. When I get a 
new negro under my command, I never whip at 
first ; I always give him a few days to learn his du- 
ty, unless he is an outrageous villain, in which case 
I anoint him a little at the beginning. I call over 
the names of all the hands twice every week, on 
Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and settle with 
them according to their general conduct, for the last 
three days. I call the names of my captains every 
morning, and it is their business to see that they have 
all their hands in their proper places. You ought 
not to have staid behind to-night with Lyd; but 
as this is your first offence, I shall overlook it, and 
you may go and get your supper." I made a low 
bow, and thanked master overseer for his kindness 
to me. and left him. This night for supper, we had 
corn bread and cucumbers ; but we had neither salt, 
vinegar, nor pepper, with the cucumbers. 

I had never before seen people flogged in the way 
our overseer flogged his people. This plan of ma- 
king the person who is to be whipped, lie down up- 
on the ground, was new to me, though it is much 
practised in the south ; and I have since seen men 
and w^omen too, cut nearly in pieces by this mode 
of punishment. It has one advantage over tying 
people up by the hands, as it prevents all accidents 
from sprains in the thumbs or wrists. I have known 
people to hurt their joints very much, by struggling 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 161 

when tied up by the thumbs, or wrists, to undergo a 
severe whipping;. The nielhod of ground wliipping, 
as it is called, is, in my opinion, very indecent, as it 
compels females to expose themselves in a very 
shameful manner. 

The wliip usimI by the overseers on tlie cotton 
plantations, is dill'erent from all other wliips. iliat I 
liave ever seen. The stall* is about twenty or Iwen- 
ty-two inches in length, with a lar^t^ and heavy 
head, which is often loaded with a ijuartcr or half a 
pound of lead, wrapped in cat-gul, and securely 
fastened on, so that nothing but the greatest violence 
can separate it from the sia(l'. The lash is ten feet 
long, made of small strips of buckskin, tanned so as 
to be dry and hard, and plaited carefully and closely 
together, of the thickness, in the largest part, of a 
man's little fmger, but quite sujall at each extremity. 
Al the farthest end of this thong is attached a crack- 
er, nine inches in length, made of strong sewing 
silk, twisted and knotted, until it feels as firm as the 
hardest twine. 

'I'his wbip in an unpractised hand, is a very 
awkward and inellicient weapon ; but the best (jual- 
ification of the overseer of a cotton plantation is the 
ability of using this whip with adroitness ; and when 
wielded by an experienced arm. it is one of the 
keenest instruments of torture ever invented by the 
ingenuity of man. The cat-o'-nine tails, used in 
the British military service, is but a clumsy instru- 
ment beside this whip ; which has superseded the 
cow-hide, the hickory, and every other species of 
14* 



162 NARRATIVE OF THE 

lash, on the cotton plantations. The cow-hide and 
hickory, bruise and mangle the flesh of the suflerer; 
but this whip cuts, when expertly applied, almost as 
keen as a knife, and never bruises the flesh, nor in- 
jures the bones. 

It was now Saturday night, and I wished very 
much for Sunday morning to come that I might 
see the manner of spending the Sabbath, on a great 
cotton plantation. 1 expected, that as these people 
had been compelled to work so hard, and fare so 
poorly all the week, they would be inclined to re- 
pose themselves on Sunday ; and that the morning 
of this day would be passed in quietness, if not in 
sleep, by the inhabitants of our quarter. No horn 
was blown by the overseer, to awaken us this 
morning, and I slept, in my httle loft, until it was 
quite day ; but when I came down, I found our 
small community a scene of universal bu.-tle and 
agitation. 

Here it is necessary to make my readers acquaint- 
ed with the rules of polity, wliich governed us on 
Sunday, (for I now speak of myself, as one of the 
slaves on this plantation,) and with the causes which 
gave rise to these rules. 

All over the south, the slaves arc discouraged, as 
much as possible, and by all possible means, from 
going to any place of religious worship on Sunday. 
This is to prevent them from associating together, 
from different estates, and distant parts of the coun- 
try ; and plotting conspiracies and insurrections. On 
some estates, the overseers are required to piohibit 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BAT,T„ 163 

the people from i;oini]^ (o meeting ofTllie plantation, 
at any time, under the severest penalties. "White 
preachers cannot come u[K)n the plantations, to 
preach to the |)eople, without first obtaininj]^ permis- 
sion of tiie master, and afterwards procuring the 
sanction of the overseer. No slave dare leave the 
plantation to which he beloni^s. a single jnile. with- 
out a written pass from the t)verseer, or master ; but 
by exposing him>elf to the danger of being taken 
up :ui(i Hogged. Any wlulc man who nu'cts a 
slav(; oil" the plantation witlionl a jkiss, has a i;ight 
to take liim up, and llog him at his discielion. All 
these causes combined, oj^-rate [u»w«Mfiilly to keep 
the slave at home. iJut, in addition to tbese princi- 
ples of restraint, it is a rule on every plantation, that 
no overseer ever departs from, to llog every slave, 
mall' or frrtjajc, that leaves tiie estate for a single 
lioiii, liy ni^ht o[ by day — Sunday not excepted — 
witlioui a wiilten [Kiss. 

The overseer who .should permit the people under 
his charge to go about the neiglibourhfKxl without a 
pass, would sojn lose his character, and no one 
woidd employ him ; nor would his n-puiation less 
certainly sulli'r in th*- estimation (jf tlie planters, were 
he to fall into the practice of granting passes, except 
on the most urgent occasions; and for purposes ge- 
nerally to be specified in the pass. 

A cotton planter has no more idea of permitting 
his slaves to go at will, about the neighbourhood on 
Sunday, than a farmer in Pennsylvania has of 
letting his horses out of his field on that day. Nor 



164 NARRATIVE OF THE 

would the neighbours be less indined to complain 
of the annoyance, in the former, than in the latter 
case. 

There has always been a strong repugnance, 
amongst the planters, against their slaves becoming 
members of any religious society, Not, as I be- 
lieve, because they are so maliciously disposed to- 
wards their people as to wish to deprive them of the 
comforts of religion — provided the principles of reli- 
gion did not militate against the principles of sla- 
very — but they fear that the slaves, by attending 
meetings, and listening to the preachers, may im- 
bibe with the morality they teach, the notions of 
equahty and liberty, contained in the gospel. This, 
I have no doubt, is the ground of all the dissatis- 
faction, that the planters express, with the itinerant 
preachers, who have from time to time, sought op- 
porlunities of instructing the slaves in their rehgious 
duties. 

The cotton planters have always, since I knew 
any thing of them, been most careful to prevent the 
slaves from learning to read ; and such is the gross 
ignorance that prevails, that many of them could 
not name the four cardinal pomts. 

At the time I first went to CJarolina, there were a 
great many African slaves in the country, and tliey 
continued to come in for several years afterwards. 
I became intimately acquainted with some of these 
men. Many of them believed there were several 
gods ; some of whom were good, and others evil^ 
and they prayed as much to the latter as to the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



165 



former. I knew several who must have been, from 
what T have since learned, Mohamedans ; though 
at that time, I had never heard of the religion of 
Mohamed. 

There was one man on this plantation, who 
prayed five times every day, always turning his 
fire t() the east, when in the performance of his 
devotion. 

There is, in general, very httle sense of religious 
obligation, or dtity, am.ongst the slaves on the cotton 
plantations; and Christianity cannot be, with pro- 
priety, called the religion of these people. They 
are universally subject to the grossest and most 
abject superstition ; and uniformly believe in witch- 
craft, conjuration, and the agency of evil spirits in 
the artairs of human life. Far the greater part of 
them are eilber natives of Africa, or the descend- 
ants of those wlio have always, from generation to 
generation, lived in the south, since their ancestors 
were landed on this continent ; and their supersti-. 
tion, for it do^s not deserve the name of religion, is 
no better, nor is it less ferocious, than that which 
oppresses the inhabitants of the wildest regions of 
Negro-land. 

They have not the slightest religious regard for 
the Sabbath-day, and their masters make no efforts to 
impress them with the least respect for this sacred 
institution. My first Sunday on this plantation was 
but a prelude to all that followed ; and I shall here 
give an account of it. 



166 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



At the time I rose this morning, it wanted only 
about fifteen or twenty minutes of sunrise ; and a 
large number of the men, as well as some of the 
women, had already quitted the quarter, and gone 
about the business of the day. That is, they had 
gone to work for wages for themselves — in this man- 
ner : our overseer had, about two miles off, a field of 
near twenty acres, planted in cotton, on his own ac- 
count. He was the owner of this land ; but as he 
had no slaves, he was obliged to hire people to work 
it for him, or let it lie waste. He had procured this 
field to be cleared, as I was told, partly by letting 
white men make tar and turpeniine from the pine 
wood which grew on it; and partly by hiring slaves 
to work upon it on Sunday. About twenty of our 
people went to work for him to-day, for which he 
gave them fifiy cents each. Several of the others, 
perhaps forty in all, went out through the neighbour- 
hood, to work for other planters. 

On every plantation, with which I ever had any 
acquaintance, the people are allowed to make patch- 
es, as they are called — that is, gardens, in some 
remote and unprofitable part of the estate, generally 
in the woods, in which they plant corn, potatoes, 
pumpkins, melons, (fcc. for themselves. 

These patches they must cultivate on Sunday, 
or let them go uncultivated. I think, that on this 
estate, there were about thirty of these patches, 
cleared in the woods, and fenced — some with rails, 
and others with brush — the property of the various 
families. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 167 

The vegetables that grew in these patches, were 
always consumed in the families of the owners ; 
and the money that was earned by hiring out, was 
spent in various ways : sometimes for clothes, some- 
times for better food than was allowed by the over- 
seer, and sometimes for rum ; but those who drank 
rum, had to do it by stealth. 

By the time the sun was up an hour, (his morn- 
ing, our quarter was nearly as cjuirt and clear of 
inhabitants, a>^ it had l)orn at llir same period on the 
previous day. 

As I had nothin;r to d,, for myself, I went with 
Lydia, whose husband was still sick, to help her to 
work in her patch, which was al)out a mile and a 
half from our dNvellin.r. We took with us some 
bread, and a hn-e bucket of water ; and worked all 
day. She had onions, cabbai^es, cucumbers, mel- 
ons, and many other things in her garden. 

In the evening, as we returned home, we were 
joined by the man who prayed five times a day ; 
and at the going down of the sun, he stopped and 
prayed aloud in our hearing, in a language 1 did not 
understand. 

This man told me, he formerly lived on the con- 
fines of a country, which had no trees, nor grass 
upon It ; and that in some places, no water was to 
be found for several days' journey. That this bar- 
ren country was, nevertheless, inhabited by a race of 
men, who had many camels and goats, and some 
horses. They had no settled place of residence; 
but removed from one part of the country to an- 



168 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Other, ill quest of places where green herbage 
was to be found — their chief food being the milk 
of their camels, and goats ; but that they also ate 
the flesh of these animals, sometimes. The hair 
of these people, was not short and woolly, like that 
of the negroes ; nor were they of a shining black. 
They were continually at war with some of the 
neighbouring people, and very often with his own 
countrymen. He was himself once taken prisoner 
by them, when a lad, in a great battle fought be- 
tween them and his own people, in which his party 
were defeated. The victors kept him in their pos- 
session, more than two years, compelling him to at- 
tend to their camels and goats. 

AYhilst he was Vvith these people, they travelled a 
trreat way towards the rising sun ; and came to a 
river, running through a country inhabited by yel- 
low people, where the land was very rich, and pro- 
duced great quantities of rice, such as grows here — 
and many other kinds of grain. 

The people who had taken him prisoner, profes- 
sed the same religion that he did ; and it was forbid- 
den by its precepts, for one man to sell another into 
slavery, who held the same faith w4th himself; 
otherwise he should have been sold to these yellow 
people. In the river of this country he saw alligators, 
in great abundance, like those that he had seen in 
Carolina ; and the musquitos were, in some places, 
so numerous, that it was difficult to breathe without 
inhaling them. 

» When we turned the camels out to graze, we 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 169 

used to tie their forefeet tocrether, with a rope made 
of the hair of this animal, spun upon small slicks, 
and twisted into a rope. Sometimes they Inoke 
these ropes, and slipped their feet out of its coils ; and 
it was then very difficult to retake them. They 
would sometimes strike off at a trot, across the open 
country, and we would be obliged to mount other 
camels, and follow them for a day or two, before we 
could retake them. I had been with these jieople so 
loner, and Uc'uvj; of the same religion wiih them- 
selves, had l)ecomc so familiar with thtir customs 
and manner of life, that they seemed almost to re- 
gard me as one of their oww iwitioii : .iiid frc([uently 
sent me alone, in pursuit of the stray camels, giving 
me instructions how to direct my course, so as to re- 
join them ; for they never waited for m<', to return 
to them, at the place where I left them, if the beasts 
had consumed the bushes, and gret>n herbage, grow- 
ing there, before I came back. 

•' When I had been a captive with them fully two 
years, w« came one evening, and encamped at a lit- 
tle well, the mouth of which was about a yard over ; 
and the water in which was very sweet and good. 

» This well, seemed to have been scooped out of 
the hard and tlinty sand, with men's hands, and 
was scarcely more than four feet deep; though it 
contained an abundant supply of water. We en- 
camped by this fountain all night ; and I remem- 
bered that we had been at the same place, soon after 
I was made a prisoner ; and that when we had for- 
merly come to it, we travelled with our backs to the 
15 



170 NARRATIVE OF THE 

mid-day sun. There was no herbage hereabout, ex- 
cept a few stunted and thorny bushes ; and in wan- 
dering abroad in quest of something to eat, one of 
the best and fleetest camels, entangled the rope 
which bound his fore-feet, amongst these bushes, 
and broke it. I found part of the rope fast to a bush 
in the morning ; but the camel was at a great dis- 
tance from us, towards the setting sun. 

" The chief of our party ordered me to mount an- 
other camel, and go with a long rope, in pursuit of 
the stray ; and told me that they should travel to- 
wards the south, that day, and encamp at a place 
where there was much grass. I went in pursuit of 
the lost camel ; but when I came near him, he took 
off at a great trot over the country, — and 1 pursued 
him until noon, without being able to overtake him, 
or even to change the line of his march. His course 
w^as towards the south-west ; and when I found it 
impossible to overtake him. as his speed was superior 
to that of the beast I rode, I resolved to strive to ac- 
complish that, by stratagem, which force could not 
effect. I knew the beasts were both hungry ; and 
that having received as much water as they could 
drink, the night before, they would devour with the 
utmost avidity, the first green herbage that they 
might meet with. 

" I slackened the speed of my camel, and followed 
at a leisure gait, after the one I pursued, suffering 
him to leave me behind him at a considerable dis- 
tance. He still, however, kept on in the same direc- 
tion, and wdth nearly the same speed, with which he 



ADVENTTTRES OF CHARLES BALL. 171 

had advanced all the iiiorniiig ; so that it became 
necessary for me to quicken my pace, to prevent him 
from passing out of my sight, and escaping from me 
altogether. 

'' Al)out five o'clock in the afternoon, I came in 
sight of trees, tlic tops of which were only visible 
across the open plain. The camel I rode was now 
as desirous to advance rapidly, as his leader had 
been throughout the day. I was carried forward as 
(piickly as the swift.v-^t horse could tn.t ; and awhile 
before sundown, I ap[)roached a small grove of tali 
straii^ht trees, which arc greatly valued in Ahica, 
and which bear large quantities of nuts, of a very 
good (luality. Under and about these trees, was a 
small tract of ground, covered with long green grass; 
and here my stray camel stopped. 

" I have no doubt that he had scented the odour 
of this grass, soni aftor 1 first gave chase to him in 
the morning ; though the distance at which he was 
from if, was so great, that the best horse could not 
have travelled it in one day. When I came up to 
the trees, I dismounted from the camel I rode, and 
tyiniz: its feet together with a short rope, preserved 
my long one, for the purpose of taking the runaway. 
I o-athered as many nuts as I could eat, and after 
satisfying my hunger, lay down to sleep. 

«' This was the first time that I had ever attempt- 
ed to pass a night alone, in this open country ; and 
after I had made my bed in the grass, I became fear- 
ful that some wild beast might fall in with me before 
morninor, as I had often heard lions, and other crea- 



172 NARRATIVE OF THE 

tures of prey, breaking the stillness of night, in those 
desolate regions, by their yells and roaring. I there- 
fore ascended a tree, and placed myself amongst 
some spreading limbs, in such a position as to be in 
no danger of falling, even if I should be overtaken by 
sleep. 

" The moon was now full ; and in that country 
where there are no clouds, and where there is seldom 
any dew, objects can be distinguished at the dis- 
tance of several miles over the plains, by moon- 
light. When I had been in the tree about an hour, 
I heard at a great distance, a loud sullen noise, be- 
tween a growl and a roar, which I knew to proceed 
from a lion ; for I was well acquainted with the hab- 
its and noise of this animal : having frequently as- 
sisted in hunting him, in my own country. 

" I was greatly terrified by this circumstance ; not 
for my own safety, for T knew that no beast of prey 
could reach me in the tree, but I feared that my 
camels might be devoured, and I be left to perish in 
the desert. 

"My fears were in part, w^ell founded ; for keep- 
ing my eye steadily directed towards the point from 
which the sound had proceeded, it was not long be- 
fore I saw some object, moving over the naked plain. 

" The runaway camel now" joined his tetheied 
companion, and both quitting the herbage, came and 
stood at the root of the tree, upon the branches of 
which I w^as. I still kept my eye steadily fixed upon 
the moving body which was evidently advancing 
nearer to me over the plain. I had no longer any 



ADVF.NTL'KKS OF CHARLF.S BALL. 173 

(loubl llial it was comini; to tlie jjrove of Iroes, which 
were only twelve or fifieen in number; and so bare 
of branches that I could distinctly see in rvcrv direc- 
tion around me. 

"In a few minutes, the animal approached mr. 
It was a monstrous lion, of the black maned species. 
It was now wilhin one hundred paces of mo, and 
the p(X)r camels raised their heads, as hi<rh as lliey 
could, towards me, and cniueln'd close to the liniik 
of the tree, apparently s) slupilied by ft\ir, as to he 
ine:ipal»le of aUemptini; to tly. The lion appronrh- 
ed Willi a kind of circular niolion : ami at length 
droppinir on his belly, i^lided aloiii^ the L;round, until 
wilhin about ten yards of the tree, when utteriiiu: a 
terrific roar, which shook the stillness of the lil-^^ht for 
many a Iea«rue around, he sprani^ upon and seized 
the unbound camel by the neck. 

" Finding that I alVorded no protection, the animal, 
after striving in vain to shake oil' his assailant, rush- 
ed out upon the open plain, carrying on his back the 
lion, which I could perceive, had already fastened 
upon lh(> throat of his vielini; w liich did not go more 
than a stones cast from the trees, before he fell, and 
after a short struggle, ceased to move his limbs. 
The lion held the poor beast by the throat for some 
time after he was dead, and until, I suppose, the 
blood had ceased to flow from his veins — then, quit- 
ting the neck, he turned to the side of the slain, and 
tearing a hole into the cavity of the body, extracted 
the intestines, and devoured the liver and heart, be- 
fore he began to gorge himself with the flesh. 
15* 



174 NARRATIVE OF THE 

'' The moon was now high in the heavens, and 
shone with such exceeding brilliancy, that I conld 
see distinctly for many miles round me. In that 
country, the smooth and glittering surface of the 
hard and baked sandy plains, reflects the light of the 
moon, as strongly as a sheet of snow in winter does 
in this : and the atmosphere being free from all hu- 
midity, is so clear and transparent, that I could per- 
ceive the quivering motion of the camel's lips, in his 
last agony, as well as the tongue of the lion when 
he licked the blood from his paws. 

" As soon as my fright had a little subsided, I 
iooked for my surviving caiT>eI which, to my terror. 
I could not see, either at the foot of the tree on which 
I was, and where I had last seen it, or anywhere in 
the grove. 

«• I now concluded, that in the alarm caused by 
the lion, and the destruction of his companion, my 
surviving beast had broken the cord which bound 
its feet, and had taken to flight leaving me alone, 
and witho\it any means of escaping from the desert; 
for 1 had no hope of being able to reach, on foot, ei- 
ther the people with whom I had so long lived, or 
the inhabitants of the woody countries, lying far to 
the south of me. No condition can be more misera- 
ble than that to which I was now reduced. 

" My late masters were distant from me, at least 
one day's journey, on a swift camel ; and were re- 
moving farther from me every day, as fast as their 
beasts could carry them ; and I had no knowledge 
of the various watering places, and spots of herbage, 



ADVF.NTURKS OV CIIAIILHS RALT. 175 

whicli lie scatiorcil over the wide exjianse of tliose 
iinfie(juented regions, in the iniilst of which I then 
was. I had not seen any water at this place, since 
I ranie to it; and had not the poor consolation of 
knf)\vin!r, that I could remain here, anil live on the 
fniil of the trres. until some chance should hring 
hithor .^)Mif' of the wandi rin^" tribes, that roam over 
those s;)lilud<'S. 

" After a lapse of two or three hours, not Ix^ng 
ahle to di-cover my liviuix camel auywIuMe, aliln>ui;h 
the moon had now passed her meridian, and shone 
with a splrMidour which enahl'-d me to distinguish 
small' pebbles at some distance. I gave him up for 
lost, and again turned my atlcution to the lion, 
which still continued at intervals, to niter deep and 
sullen growls over his prey. I expected, that at the 
approach of day, the lion would leave the dead car- 
cii.ss, and retire to his lair in sonic distant place ; and 
I determined to await the [)eriod of his departure, to 
descend the tree, and search for water aujongst the 
grass, which rose in some places to the height of my 
shoulders. 

" 1 slept none thi^ night, — but from my couch in 
the houghs, watched the motions of the liin, which, 
after swallowing at least one third of tlie camel, 
stretched himself at full length on his belly, about 
twenty paces from it, and laying Ids head between 
his fore-feet, prepard to guard his spoil against all 
the intruders of the night. In this position he re- 
mained, until the sun was up in the morning, and 
began to dart his rays across the naked and parched 



176 NARRATIVE OF THE 

plain, upon which he lay— when rising and stretch- 
ing himself, he walked slowly towards the grove- 
passed under me— went to the other side of the trees 
and entered some very tall herbage, where I heard 
him lap water. I now knew that 1 was in no dan- 
ger of dying from thirst, provided I could escape wild 
beasts, on my way to and from the fountain. 

" The trees afforded me both food and shelter : 
but I quickly found myself deprived of tasting wa- 
ter, at the present— for the hon, after slaking his 
thirst, returned by the same way that he had gone 
to the water, and coming to the tree in the boughs 
of which I lay, rubbed himself against its trunk, 
raising his tail, and exposing his sides alternately to 
the friction of the rough bark. After continuing this 
exercise for some time, he rested his weight on his 
hind-feet, licked his breast, fore-legs and paws, and 
then lying down on his side in the shade, appeared 
to fall into a deep sleep. Great as my anxiety was 
to leave my present lodgings, I dared not attempt to 
pass the sentinel that kept guard at the root of the 
tree, even though he slept on his post : for whenever 
I made the least rusthng in the branches, I perceived 
that he moved his ears, and opened his eyes, but 
closed the latter again, when the noise ceased. 

" The lion lay all day under the tree, only remo- 
ving so as to place himself in the shade in the after- 
noon ; but soon after the sun descended below the 
horizon, in the evening, he aroused himself, and 
resting upon his hind-feet, as he had done in the 
morning, uttered a roar that shook all the leaves 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 177 

about my head, and caii:>cd a trenuilous motion in 
tlie branches upon wliich I rested. This horrid noise, 
toi^etlier with the sis^lit of the great beast that utter- 
ed it, so agitated my whole frame, that I was near 
leaping from my seat, and falling to the ground. I 
was so overcome with fear, that all prudence and 
self-possession forsook me ; and I uttered a loud 
shout, as if in defiance of the monster below me. 

" Tlie moment the lion heard my voice, he raised 
hi- lic.-id, l()()k<'d diieclly at nir. wiili his fiery eyes, 
and crouched down in the altitude of springing ; but 
perc«:iving me to be (piite out of the reach of his 
longest leap, he walked slowly olV, and lay down 
about half way between me and tbe dead camel, 
with his head towards my tree. T had no doubt that 
liis object was to watch me, until my descent from 
the tree, that he miirht make his supper of me this 
night, as he bad of niy eauid, tbe ninht before. 

'•I bad now liccn witbout water two days- -my 
thirst was tormenting, and 1 bad no prospect before 
me but of remaining in this tree, until driven to de- 
lirium for water, I sbould voluntarily descend, and 
deliver myself into the jaws of my enemy. 

'• The moon did not rise this night until long af- 
ter the disappearance of dayligbt ; but in the coun- 
try where 1 then was, the stars shed such abundant 
Ught, that objects of magnitude can be seen at a 
great distance by their rays, without the aid of the 
moon. The lion moved frequently from place to 
place, but 1 could perceive that his attention was still 
fixed upon me : at last, however, he started away 



178 NAliltATIVK OF TIIK 

across the pluiii, iind went farUicr aud farther from 
inc, until at lenfrili J lost av^hl of hiia in the dis- 
tance ; and all remained as cjuiet and noiseless, in 
tin; iinm(;ns(i expanse around nu;, as the land of the 
dead. 

" I now thoufrht of descending, to i-o in (juest of 
water ; hut whilst 1 d<;lih(;rated upon this suhject the 
moon rose, and cast her hroad and c^lorioiis light 
upon these wide fields of desolation. As 1 could now 
see every thing, I resolved to descend ; hut heforc 
doing this, thought it prudent to cast a look ahout 
mc, to see if there mi-jht not he some otlier heast of 
j)rey near. This tluught saved my life; for on 
turning my eyes in a direction ([uite dKrereiit from 
that in wliich the lion had de[)arted, I saw him re- 
turning, within two or three stench's cast, creeping 
along the ground, i watclied him, and he came 
and placed liiniseil ])etween me and the water. 

" vMl was again silent; and I remained in the 
tree, hurning with ti>.irsf. until ihe moon was eleva- 
ted high in th(; heavejis, when the silence was int(;r- 
ruptcMJ hy the roaring of a lion, at a great distance, 
w Inch was again repeated alter a short interval. At 
the etid of half an hour I again heard the same lion, 
apparently not far olf. Casting my eye in the di- 
rection of the sound, 1 saw the heast advancing ra- 
pidly, as I thought towards me, and began to appre- 
hend that a whole den of lions were lying in wait 
for me. 

'' Tlie strangfM- s(K)n undeceived me, for he was 
coming to partake of the dead camel, whose flesh or 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 179 

blood he had doubtlessly smelled, though it was not 
putrid, for, in this dry atmosphere, flesh is preserved 
a long time free from taint, and is sometimes dried 
in the sun, in a state of perfect soundness. I knew 
the nature of the lion too well, to suppose that the 
stranger was going to get his supper free of cost ; 
and before he had reached the carcass, my jailer 
quitted his post, and set olT to defend his acquisition 
of the last night. 

'- The new comer arrived first, and fell upon the 
dead camel, with the fury of a hungry lion— as he 
was ; but he had scarcely swallowed a second morsel 
when the rightful owner, uttering a roar yet more 
dreadful than any that had preceded it, leaped upon 
the intruder, and brought him to tlic ground. For 
a moment I jieard nothing but the gnashing of teeth, 
tlie clasliing of talons, and the sounds caused by 
the laceration of the flesh and hides of the combat- 
ants; but anon, they rolled along the ground, and 
fllhd the whole canopy of heaven with their yells of 
rage— then the roaring would cease, and only the 
rending of the flesh of these lords of the waste could 
be heard— then the roaring would again burst forth, 
with renewed energy. 

"This battle lasted more than an hour; but at 
length both appearing to be exhausted, they lay for 
some minutes on their sides, each with the other wrap- 
ped in his fierce embrace. In the end, I perceived 
that one of them rose and walked away, leaving the 
other upon the ground. The victor, which I could 
perceive was the stranger, for his mane was not 



180 NARRATIVE OF THE 

black, returned to the remnant of the camel, and lay 
down panting beside it. After he had taken time to 
breathe, he recommenced his attack, and consumed 
far the larger part of the carcass. Having eaten to 
fulness, he took up the bones and remaining flesh 
of the camel, and set out across the desert, — I follow- 
ed him with my eye for more than an hour. 

"Parched as my throat was, but still afraid to 
descend from my place of safety, I remained on the 
tree until the light of the next morning, when I ex- 
amined carefully around, to see that there was no 
beast of prey lurking about the place, where 1 knew 
the water to be. Perceiving no danger, I descended 
before the sun was up, and going to the water, knelt 
down, and drank as long and as much as I thought 
I could with safety. 

" 1 then proceeded to make a more minute exa- 
mination of this place, and saw numerous tracks of 
wild goats, and of other animals, that had come here, 
as well to drink as to eat the grass. I also saw the 
tracks of lions, and other beasts of prey, which satis- 
fied me that these had come to lie in wait for other 
animals coming to drink : it also convinced me that 
it was not safe for me to remain in this grove alone ; 
but 1 knew of no means by which I could escape 
from it. 

" It now occurred to my mind that if my living 
camel had not escaped from me, I might have made 
my way to my own country, for on my camel I had 
two leather bottles, which I had neglected to fill 
with water, the morning I left the company of my 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. ISl 

former masters. By replenishing these from the 
fountain, giving my camel as much as he could 
drink, and filling two small sacks attached to my 
saddle, with the nuts from these trees, I should have 
been cfjuip|)ed for a journey of ten days, wit 1 1 in 
which period, I had no douljt, I should have boon 
able to reach my own people : ])ut my camel was 
gone, and these roHoctions served only to aggravate 
tiie bitterness of my anguisli. 

'I walked out upon the desert, and prayed to be 
delivered from the perils that environed me. At the 
distance of two or three miles from me, I now observ- 
ed a small sand hill, rising to the height of eight or 
ten feet ; easily perceived when looking along the 
level surface of the ground, but which had escaped 
my observation from my elevated pst in the tree. 
Such sand hills are.often found in those deserts, and 
sometimes contain the bones of men and animals 
that have been buried in them. 

•' In my situation, I could not remain idle; and 
urged forward by restlessness, bordering on despair, 
I resolved to go to the little hill before me, without 
having any definite object in view. I soon approach- 
ed the hill, and having reached its foot, walked along 
its base for some distance. I then turned to go back 
to the trees ; but after advancing a few steps, was 
seized with a sudden impulse, which urged me to go 
to the top of the sand hill. I again turned and 
walked slowly to the summit, beyond which I saw 
only the same dreary expanse that I was so well used 
to look upon. Advancing along the top of this sand 
16 



182 NARRATIVE OF THE 

hill, which had been blown up by the wind in a long 
narrow ridge, I saw a recess or hollow place, on the 
side opposite to that by which I had ascended it ; 
and on coming to this spot, beheld my camel crouch- 
ed down close to the ground, with his neck extend- 
ed at full length. My joy was unbounded— I leap- 
ed with dehght, and was wild for some minutes, with 
a delirium of gladness. 

" My camel had lied from the grove, at the time 
his companion was killed by the hon, and reaching 
this place, had here taken refuge, and had not mo- 
ved since. 1 hastened to loose his feet from the cords 
with which I had bound them ; mounted upon his 
back, and was quickly at the watering place. 1 fill- 
ed my two water skins with water, and gathering as 
many nuts as my sacks would contain, caused my 
camel to take a full draught, and fill his stomach 
Avith grass, and then directed my course to the south, 
with a quick pace. 

"It was now noon when I left this watering 
place ; and I travelled hard all that day and the suc- 
ceeding nighty until the moon rose. I then alighted, 
and causing my camel to lie clown, crept close to his 
side, and betook myself to sleep. I rested well this 
night, and recommencing my journey at the dawn 
of day, I pursued my route, Avithout any thing 
worthy of relating happening to me until the eighth 
day, when 1 discovered trees, and all the appearance 
of a woody country, before me. 

<' Soon after entering the forest, I came to a small 
stream of water. Descending this stream a few 



i.dvextl'rf:s of ciiarles ball. 183 

miles, I found some people, who were cutting fi^iass 
for the purpose of making mats to sleep on. These 
people spoke my own language, and told me that 
one of tliem had lx?en in my native village lately. 
They took me and my camel to their village, and 
treated me very kindly : promising me that after I 
had recovered from iny fitlLTUt', flicy would go with 
nie to my friends. 

*• -My protectors were at war with a nation whose 
religion was dill^rent from ours ; and ahout a monih 
after I came to the villaire we were alarnied one 
morning, just at hreak of day. hy tin; h(>nil)le up- 
roar caused by miiiixlrd -liouts of men, and Mows 
given with heavy stick^< upon large wooden drums. 
The \ illage was surrounded by enemies, who at- 
tacked us with clubs, long wooden spears, and bows 
and arrows. After fighting for more thati an hour, 
those who were not fortunate enough t<; run away, 
were made prisoners. It was not the object of our 
enemies to kill ; they wished to take us alive, and 
sell us as slaves. I was knocked down by a heavy 
blow of a club, and when 1 recovered from the stu- 
por that followed, I found myself tied fast with the 
long rope that I had brou^-lit from the desert, and in 
which I had formerly led the camels of my masters. 

'• \Vc were immediately led away from this vil- 
lage, through the forest, and were compelled to travel 
all day, as fast as we could walk. We had nothing 
to eat on this journey, but a small quantity of grain, 
taken with ourselves. This grain we were compel- 
led to carry on our backs, and, roast by the tires 



184 NARRATIVE OP THE 

which we kindled at nights, to frighten away the 
wild beasts. We travelled three weeks in the 
woods,— sometimes without any path at all ; and 
arrived one day at a large river, with a rapid cur- 
rent. Here we were forced to help our conquerors, 
to roll a great number of dead trees into the water, 
from a vast pile that had been thrown together by 
high floods. 

These trees being dry and Ught, floated high out 
of the water ; and when several of them were fasten- 
ed together, with the tough branches of young trees, 
formed a raft, upon which we all placed ourselves, 
and descended the river for three days, when we 
came in sight of what appeared to me the most 
wonderful object in the world ; this was a large 
ship, at anchor, in the river. When our raft came 
near the ship, the white people — for such they were 
on board — assisted to take us on deck, and the logs 
were suffered to float down the river. 

" I had never seen white people before ; and they 
appeared to me the ughest creatures in the world. 
The persons who brought us down the river receiv- 
ed payment for us of the people in the ship, in vari- 
ous articles, of which I remember that a keg of 
liquor, and some yards of blue and red cotton cloth, 
were the principal. At the time we came into this 
ship, she was full of black people, who were all con- 
fined in a dark and low place, in irons. The women 
were in irons as well as the men 

" About twenty persons were seized in our village, 
at the time I was ; and amongst these were three 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 185 

children, so young that they were not able to walk, 
or to eat any hard substance. The mothers of 
these children had brought them all the way with 
them ; and had them in their arms when we were 
taken on board this ship. 

" When they put us in irons, to be sent to our 
place of confinement in the ship, the men who fast- 
ened the irons on these mothers, took the children 
out of their hands^ and threw them over the side of 
the ship, iato the water. When this was done, two 
of the women leaped overboard after the children — 
the third was already confined by a chain to another 
woman, and could not get into the water, but instrug- 
glingto disengage herself she broke her arm, and died 
a few days after, of a fever. One of the two women 
who were in the river, was carried down by the 
weight of her irons, before she could be rescued ; but 
tlie other was taken up by some men in a boat, and 
brought on board. This woman threw herself over- 
board one night, when we were at sea. 

''The weather was very hot, whilst we lay in the 
river, and many of us died every day ; but the num- 
ber brought on board greatly exceeded those who 
died, and at the end of two weeks the place in which 
we were confined was so full that no one could lie 
down ; and we were obliged to sit all the time, for 
the room was not high enough for us to stand. When 
our prison would hold no more, the ship sailed down 
the river, and on the night of the second day after 
she sailed, I heard the roaring of the ocean, as it 
dashed against her sides. 

16* 



186 NARRATIVE OF THE 

'• After we had been at sea some days, the irons 
were removed from the women, and they were per- 
mitted to go upon deck ; but whenever the wind 
blew high, they were driven down amongst us. 

'• We had nothing to eat but yams, which were 
thrown amongst us at random — and of these we 
had scarcely enough to support life. More than 
one-third of us died on the passage ; and when we 
arrived at Charleston, I was not able to stand. It 
was more than a week after I left the ship, before I 
could straighten my hmbs. I was bought by a 
trader, with several others ; brought up the country, 
and sold to our present master : I have been here 
five years." 



CHAPTER IX. 

It was dusky twilight when this narrative was 
ended, and we hastened home to the quarter. When 
we arrived, the overseer had not yet come. He 
had been at his cotton field, with the people he had 
hired in the morning to work for him ; but he soon 
made his appearance, and going into his house, 
came out with a small bag of money, and paid each 
one the price he had a right to receive. In this 
transaction the overseer acted with entire fairness to 
the people who worked for him ; and with the ex- 
ception of the moral turpitude of violating the Sab- 
bath, in this shameful manner, the business was 
conducted with propriety. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 187 

I must here observe, that when the slaves go out 
to 'work for wages on Sunday, their employers never 
flog them ; and so far as I know never give them 
abusive language. I have often hired myself to 
work on Sunday, and have been employed in this 
way by more than twenty different persons, not one 
of whom ever insulted or maltreated me in any way. 
Tliey seldom took the trouble of coming to look at 
me until towards evening, and sometimes not then. 
I worked faithfully, l)ecause I knew that if I did not, 
I could not expect payment ; and those who hired 
me, knew that if I did not work well, they need not 
employ me. 

The practice of working on Sunday, is so univer- 
sal amongst the slaves on the cotton plantations, 
that the immorality of the matter is never spoken of. 

We retired to rest this evening at the usual hour ; 
and no one could have known, by either our appear- 
ance or our manners, that this was Sunday evening. 
There were no clean clothes amongst us ; for few of 
our people were ac([uainted with the luxury of a suit 
of clean vestments, and those who could afford a 
clean garment, reserved it for Monday morning. 
Sunday is the customary wash-day on cotton plan- 
tations. 

It is here proper to observe, that it is usual, on the 
cotton estates, to deal out the weekly allowance of 
corn to the slaves, on Sunday evening; but our 
overseer, at this period, had changed this business 
from Sunday to Monday morning, for the reason, 1 
believe, that he wished to keep the hired people at 



188 NARRATIVE OF THE 

work, in his own cotton field, until night. He, 
however, soon afterwards resumed the practice of 
distributing the allowance on Sunday evening, and 
continued it as long as I remained on the estate. 
The business was conducted in the same manner, 
when performed on Sunday, as when attended to on 
Monday, only the time was changed. 

On Monday morning I heard the sound of the 
horn, at the usual hour, and repairing to the front 
of the overseer's house, found that he had already 
gone to the corn crib, for the purpose of distributing 
corn amongst the people, for the bread of the week ; 
or rathei-, for the week's subsistence ; for this corn 
was all the provision that our master, or his over- 
seer, usually made for us ;— I say usually, for what- 
ever was given to us beyond the corn, which we re- 
ceived on Sunday evening, was considered in the 
hoht of a bounty bestowed upon us, over and beyond 
what we were entitled to, or had a right to expect 

to receive. 

When I arrived at the crib, the door was unlock- 
ed and open, and the distribution had already com- 
menced. Each person was entitled to half a bushel 
of ears of corn, which was measured out by several 
of the men who were in the crib. Every child 
above six months old drew this weekly allowance of 
corn; and in this way, women who had several 
small children, had more corn than they could con- 
sume, and sometimes bartered small quantities with 
the other people, for such things as they needed, and 
were not able to procure. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 189 

The people received their corn in baskets, old 
bags, or any thing w ilh uhich they could most con- 
veniently provide themselves. I had not been able, 
since I came here, to procure a basket, or any thing 
else to put my corn in, and desired the man with 
whom I lived to take my portion in his basket, with 
tli.'it. of iiis family. This he readily agreed to do, 
and as soon as we had receiveil our share we left 
the crib. 

The overseer attended in person to the measuring 
of this corn; and it is only justice to him to say? 
that he was careful to sec that justice was done us. 
The men who measured the corn always heaped 
the measure as long as an ear would lie on ; and 
he never restrained their generosity to their fellow- 
slaves. 

In addition to this allowance of corn, we received 
a weekly allowance of salt, amounting, in general, 
to about half a gill to each person ; but this article 
was not furnished regularly, and sometimes we re- 
ceived none for two or three weeks. 

The reader must not suppose, that, on this plan- 
tation we had nothing to eat beyond the corn and 
salt. This was far from the case. I have already 
descril)ed the gardens, or patches, cultivated by the 
people, and the practice w hich they universally fol- 
lowed of working on Sunday, for w^ages. In addi- 
tion to all these, an industrious, managing slave 
would contrive to gather up a great deal to eat. 

I have before observed, that the planters are care- 
ful of the health of their slaves, and in pursuance 



190 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of this rule, they seldom expose them to rainy wea- 
ther, especially in the sickly seasons of the year, if 
it can be avoided. 

In the spring and early parts of the summer, the 
rains are frequently so violent, and the ground be- 
comes so wet, that it is injurious to the cotton to 
work it, at least whilst it rains. In the course of 
the year there are many of these rainy days, in 
which the people cannot go to work with safety ; 
and it often happens that there is nothing 'Ifor them 
to do in the house. At such time they make baskets, 
brooms, horse collars, and other things, which they 
are able to sell amongst the planters. 

The baskets are made of wooden splits, and the 
brooms of young white oak or hickory trees. The 
mats are sometimes made of splits, but more fre- 
quently of flags as they are called — a kind of tall 
rush, which grows in swampy ground. The horse 
or mule collars are made of husks of corn, though 
sometimes of rushes, but the latter are not very 
durable. 

The money procured by these, and various other 
means, which I shall explain hereafter, is laid out by 
the slaves in purchasing such little articles of neces- 
sity or luxury, as it enables them to procure. A part 
is disbursed in payment for sugar, molasses, and 
sometimes a few pounds of coffee, for the use of the 
family ; another part is laid out for clothes for win- 
ter ; and no inconsiderable portion of his pittance is 
squandered away by the misguided slave for tobac- 
co, and an occasional bottle of rum. Tobacco is 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 191 



fleeiiied so indispensable to comfort, nay to existence, 
that hunger and nakedness are patiently endured, 
to enable the slave to indulge in this highest of en- 
joyments. 

There being few towns in the cotton country, 
the shops, or stores, are frequently kept at some cross 
road, or other pnl»li(' placp, in or adjacent to a rich 
district of plantations. To these shops the slaves 
resort, sometimes with, and at otiier times without, 
the consent of the overseer, fur the purpose of lay- 
ing out the liiilc money they grt. Notwithstanding 
all the vigilanai that is exercised by the planters, 
the slaves, who are no less vigilant than their mas- 
ters, often leave the plantation after tlie overseer has 
retired to his bed, and go to the store. 

The store-keepers are always ready to acconnno- 
date the slaves, who are frecpiently better custojners 
than many while people ; because the former always 
pay .asli. whil-i the jruier almost always re(|uire 
credit. In deali/iir uiih tln^ slave, the shop-keeper 
knows lie can demand whatever price he pleases for 
his goods wiihoiii danger of being charged with ex- 
tortion : and he is ready to rise at any time of the 
night to oblige friends, who are of so much value to 
him. 

It is held highly disgraceful, on the part of store- 
keepers, to deal with the slaves for any thing but 
money, or the coarse fabrics that it is known are the 
usual products of the ingenuity and industry of the 
negroes ; but, notwithstanding this, a considerable 
traffic is carried on between the shop-keepers and 



192 NARRATIVE OF THE 

slaves, in which the latter make their payments by 
barter. The utmost caution and severity of masters 
and overseers, are sometimes insufficient to repress 
the cunning contrivances of the slaves. 

After we had received our corn, we deposited it in 
our several houses, and immediately followed the 
overseer to the same cotton field, in which we had 
been at work on Saturday. Our breakfast this 
morning was bread, to which was added a large 
basket of apples, from the orchard of our master. 
These apples served us for a relish with our bread, 
both for breakfast and dinner, and when I returned 
to the quarter in the evening, Dinah (the name of 
the w^oman w ho was at the head of our family) 
produced at supper, a black jug, containing mo- 
lasses, and gave me some of the molasses for my 
supper. 

I felt grateful to Dinah for this act of kindness, 
as I well knew that her children regarded molasses 
as the greatest of human luxuries, and that she was 
depriving them of their highest enjoyment to afford 
me the means of making a gourd full of molasses 
and water. I therefore proposed to her and her 
husband, whose name was Nero, that whilst I should 
remain a member of the family, I would contribute 
as much towards its support as Nero himself; or, at 
least, that I would bring all my earnings into the 
family stock, provided I might be treated as one of 
its members, and be allowed a portion of the pro- 
ceeds of their patch or garden. This offer was very 
readily accepted, and from this time we constituted 



ADVENTURES OF CIIARLF.S BALL. 193 

one community, lis long as I remained among tlie 
field hands on this plantation. After su[)[)er was 
over, we liad to grind our corn ; l)ut as we liad to 
wait for our turn at the mill, we did not get through 
thi> indispensaljlc operation before one o'clock in 
the morning. We did not sit up all night to wait 
fur our turn at the mill, but as our sever;il (urns 
w« re a.-signod us by lot. the person who had the 
fir^i turn, when done with the mill, gave notice 
lo the one enilii«Ml i«» ili<' second, and so on. Hy 
this means nol^ody K>st more than half an hour s 
sl«'cj), and in the morniuLr every one's irrindinir was 
dtiiM'. 

We worlied very hard tins week. W e wen; now 
laying hy the cotton, as it is termed ; that is, we 
wtie giving the last weeding and liillini;- to the 
crop, (if which there was, on this plantation, al)out 
five hundreil acres, whieh looked well, and pn.mised 
to yield a fine picking. 

In addition to the cotton, there was on this plan- 
tation, one hundred acres of corn, about ten acres of 
indigo, ten or twelve acres in sweet ptatoes, and a 
rice swamp of about fifty acres. The potatoes and 
indigo had been laid by, (that is, the season of 
working in them was past,) before I came upon 
the estate ; and we were driven hard by the overseer 
to get done with the cotton, to be ready to give the 
corn another harrowing, and lioeing, before the sea- 
son should be too far advanced. Most of the corn in 
this part of the country, was abready laid 1)V, but the 
17 



194 NARRATIVE OF THE 

crop here had been planted late, and yet required 
to be worked. 

We were supplied with an abundance of bread, 
for a peck of corn is as much as a man can consume 
in a week, if he has other vegetables with it ; but we 
were obliged to provide ourselves with the other 
articles, necessary for our subsistence. Nero had 
corn in his patch, which was now hard enougli to be 
fit for boihng, and my friend Lydia had beans in l^er 
garden. We exchanged corn for beans, and had a 
good supply of both ; but these delicacies Ave were 
obliged to reserve for supper. We took our break- 
fast in the field, from the cart, which seldom aftbrded 
us any thing better than bread, and some raw vege- 
tables from the garden. Nothing of moment oc- 
curred amongst us, in this first week of my residence 
here. On Wednesday evening, called setdement- 
night. two men and a woman were whipped : but 
circumstances of this kind were so common, that I 
shall, in future, not mention them, unless something 
extraordinary attended them. 

I could make wooden bowls and ladles, and went 
to work with a man who was clearing some new 
land about two miles off — on the second Sunday of 
my sojourn here, and applied the money I earned 
in purchasing the tools necessary to enable me to 
carry on my trade. I occupied all my leisure hours, 
for several months after this, in making wooden 
trays, and such other wooden vessels as were most 
in demand. These I traded off, in part, to a store- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 105 

keeper, who lived about five miles from the planta- 
tion ; and for some of my work I obtained mone}'. 
Before Christmas, I had sold mor«; than thirty dol- 
lars worth of my manufactures; but the merchant 
with whom I traded, changed such hiuh prices for his 
goods, that I was poorly compensated for my Sun- 
day toils, and nii^htly lalx)urs : nevertheless, by these 
means, I was able to keep our family supplied with 
ujolasses, and some other luxuries, and at the ap- 
proach of winter, I purchased three coarse blankets, 
to which Nero added as many, and we had all these 
made up into blanket-coats for Dinah, ourselves, and 
the children. 

About ten days after my arrival, we had a G^reat 
feast at the (piarter. C>ne niL^ht, after we luid re- 
turned from tlip fioM, the «)verseer sent tor me by 
his little son, and when I came to his hou<e. he 

asked me if I understootl the trade of a butcher 1 

told him 1 was not a butcher by trade, but that I 
had often assisted my master and others, to kill hogs 
and cattle, and that I could dress a hog, or a bul- 
lock, as well as most people. JIc then told mc 
he was going to have a beef killed in the morning 
at the great house, and I must do it— that he would 
not spare any of the hands to go with me, but he 
would get one of the house-boys to help me. 

When the morning came. I went, according to or- 
ders, to butcher the beef, which I expected to find 
in some enclosure on the plantation ; but the over- 
seer told me I must take a boy named Toney, from 



196 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the house, whose business it was to take care of the 
cattle, and go to the w^oods and look for the beef. 
Toney and I set out sometime before sunrise, and 
went to a cow-pen, about a mile from the house, 
where he said he had seen the young cattle only a 
day or two before. At this cow-pen, we saw seve- 
ral cows waiting to be milked, I suppose, for their 
calves were m an adjoining field, and separated 
from them only by a fence. Toney then said; we 
should have to go to -the long savanna, where the 
dry cattle generally ranged, and thither we set off. 
This long savanna lay at the distance of three 
miles from the cow-pen, and when we reached it, 
I found it to be literally what it was called, a long 
savanna. It was a piece of low, swampy ground, 
several miles in extent, with an opo.n space in the 
interior part of it, about a mile long, and perhaps 
a quarter of a mile in width. It was manifest that 
this open space was covered with water through the 
greater part of the year, which prevented the growth 
of timber in this place ; though at the time it was 
dry, except a pond near one end, which covered, 
perhaps, an acre of ground. In this natural mea- 
dow, every kind of wild grass, common to such 
places in the southern country, abounded. 

Here I first saw the scruli and saw grasses— the 
first of which is so hard and rough, that it is ga- 
thered to scrub coarse wooden furniture, or even 
pewter ; and the last is provided with edges, some- 
what like saw teeth, so hard and sharp that it 
would soon tear the skin off the legs of any one 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 197 

who should venture to walk throviirli it wiih bare 
limbs. 

As we entered this savanna, we were enveloped 
in clouds of nuisquitos, and swarms of galinip- 
pors, that threatened to devour us. As we advanc- 
ed throui^h the g^rass, they rose up until the air was 
thick, and actually darkened with thcin. They 
in-hed up(»n ns with ilir, liny of yrllow-jackets, 
whose liive has been broken in u[x>n, and covered 
•'vny j)art of our |)ersons. The cIoiIh^s I liad on, 
which were nolhini,^ but a shirt and tmuscrs ot U)\v 
linen, allbrded no protection, even again.^t the nuis- 
quitos, which were much larger than those found 
along the Chesapeake Bay ; and nothing short of a 
coveriug of leather c^iuld have defended nic against 
the galinipjx^rs. 

I was pierced by a thousand stings at a time, and 
verily believe I could not have lived beyond a few 
hours in this place. Toney ran into the pond, and 
rolled him.self in the water to get rid of his perse- 
cutors ; but he hatl not been long there before he 
came rumiing out, as fast as he had gone in. hal- 
looing and clamouring in a manner wholly un- 
intelligible to me. He was terribly frightened ; but 
I could not imagine what could be the cause of his 
alarm, until he reached the shore, when he turned 
round with his face to the water, and called out — 
•'• the biggest alligator in the whole world — did not 
you see him ?" I told him I had not seen any thing 
but himself in the water ; but he insisted that he had 
been chased in the pond by an alligator, which had 
17* 



198 NARRATIVE OF THE 

followed him until he was close to the shore. We 
waited a few minutes for the alligator to rise to the 
surface, but were soon compelled by the musquitos, 
to quit this place. 

Toney said, we need not look for the cattle here ; 
no cattle could live amongst these musquitos, and I 
thought he w^as right in his judgment. We then 
proceeded into the woods and thickets, and after 
wandering about for an hour or more, we found 
the cattle, and after much difficulty, succeeded in 
driving a part of them back to the cow-pen, and en- 
closing them in it. 1 here selected the one that 
appeared to me to be the fattest, and securing it 
with ropes, we drove the animal to the place of 
slaughter. 

This beef was intended as a feast for the slaves, at 
the laying by of the corn and cotton : and when I 
had it hung up, and had taken the hide off, my 
young master, whom 1 had seen on the day of my 
arrival, came out to me, and ordered me to cut olf 
the head, neck, legs, and tail, and lay tlicm, toge- 
ther with the empty stomach and the harslet, in a 
basket. This basket was sent home, to the kitchen 
of the great house, by a woman and a boy, who 
attended for that purpose. I think there was at 
least one hundred and twenty or thirty pounds of 
this offal. The residue of the carcass I cut into 
four quarters, and we carried it to the cellar of the 
great house. Here one of the hind quarters was 
salted in a tub, for the use of the family, and the 
other was sent, as a present, to a planter, who 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 199 

lived alx)ut Unn miles distant. Tlic two forc-quar- 
Icrs were cut into very small pieces, and salted by 
theni-^elves. These, I was told, would he cooked for 
('111 dinner on the next day, (Sunday,) wlicn there 
was to he a general rejoicing amongst all the slaves 
of the plantatiftn. 

After the beef was salt«'d down, I recived some 
bread and milk for my breakfast, and went to join 
tin* ii mds in the corn fu;ld. wiiere tlu^y were now 
harrowing and luxjing the crop for the last time. 
The overseer had promisiul u< that wc should have 
holiday, after the completion of tliis work, and by 
great exertion, we lini-hed it about five o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

On our return to the quarter, the overseer, at roll- 
call — which he performed this day l)efore night — 
told 11- that every family mii-t <end a bowl to th(». 
great house, to i^et our dinners of meat. This int<'l- 
ligence diirused as much joy amongst us, as if each 
one had draw n a pri/.e in a lottery. At the assu- 
rance of ji meat dimier. the (jld people smiled and 
showed tlu'ir teeth, and returned thanks to master 
overseer ; but many of the younger ones shouted, 
clapped their hand-, leaped, and ran about with de^ 
light. 

Each family, or mess, now sent its deputy, with a 
large wooden bowl in his hand, to receive the dinner 
at the great kitchen. I went on the part of our 
family, and found that the meat dinner of this day, 
was made up of the basket of tripe, and other offal, 
that I had prepared in the morning. The wiiole 



200 NARRATIVE OF THE 

had been boiled in four great iron kettles, until the 
flesh had disappeared from the bones, which were 
broken in small pieces — a flitch of bacon, some green 
corn, squashes, tomatos, and onions, had been added, 
together with other condiments, and the whole con- 
verted into about a hundred gallons of soup, of which 
I received in my bowl, for the use of our family, 
more than two gallons. We had plenty of bread, 
and a supply of black-e3^ed peas, gathered from our 
garden, some of which Dinah had boiled in our ket- 
tle, whilst I was gone for the soup, of which there 
was as much as we could consume, and I believe 
that every one in the quarter had enough. 

I doubt if there was in the world a happier assem- 
blage than ours, on this Saturday evening. We 
had finished one of the grand divisions of the la- 
bours of a cotton plantation, and were supplied with 
a dinner, which to the most of my fellow-slaves, ap- 
peared to be a great luxury, and most liberal dona- 
tion on the part of our master, whom they regarded 
with sentiments of gratitude, for this manifestation of 
his bounty. 

In addition to present gratification, they looked 
forward to the enjoyments of the next day, when 
they were to spend a whole Sunday in rest and ban- 
queting ; for it was know^n that the two fore-quar- 
ters of the bullock, were to be dressed for Sunday's 
dinner ; and I had told them that each of these quar- 
ters weighed at least one hundred pounds. 

Our quarter knew but little quiet this night ; sing- 
ing — playing on tlie banjoe, and dancing, occupied 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



201 



nearly the wliole community, until the break of day. 
Those who were too old to take any part in our ac- 
tive pleasures, beat time with their hands, or recited 
stories of former times. 3iost of these stories referred 
to aflliirs that had been transacted iu Africa, and 
were sufficiently fraught with demons, miracles, and 
murders, to fix the attention of many hearers. 

To add to our happiness, the early peaches were 
now ripe, and the overseer permitted us to send, on 
Sunday morning, to the orchard, and gather at least 
ten bushels of very fme fruit. 

In South Carolina they have very good summer 
apples, but they fall from the trees, and rot immedi- 
ately after they are ripe; indeed, very often they 
speck-rot on the trees, before they become ripe. This 
''speck- rot," as it is termed, appears to be a kind of 
cpidrmic disease amongst apples; for in some sea- 
sons whole orchards are subject to it, and the fruit is 
totally worthless, whilst in other years, the fruit in 
the same orchard continues sound and good, until it 
is ripe. The climate of Carohna is, however, not 
favourable to the apple, and this fruit of so much 
value in the north, is in the cotton region, only of a 
few weeks continuance— winter apples being un- 
known. Every climate is congenial to the growth 
of some kind of fruit tree ; and in Carolina and 
Georgia, the peach arrives at its utmost perfection : 
the fig also ripens well, and is a delicicMs fruit. 

None of our people went out to work for wages, 
to-day. Some few, devoted a part of the morning to 
Buch work as they deemed necessary, in or about 



202 NARRATIVE OF THE 

their patches, and some went to the woods, or the 
swamps, to collect sticks for brooms, and splits, or to 
gather flags for mats ; but far the greater number 
remained at the quarter, occupied in some small 
work, or quietly awaiting the hour of dinner, which 
we had been informed, by one of the house-servants, 
would be at one o'clock. Every family made ready 
some preparation of vegetables, from their own gar- 
den, to enlarge the quantity, if not to heighten the 
flavour of the dinner of this day. 

One o'clock at length arrived, but not before it 
had been long desired ; and we proceeded with our 
bowls a second time, to the great kitchen. I acted, 
as I had done yesterday, the part of commissary for 
our f[imily ; but when we were already at the place 
where we were to receiv e our soup and meat, into 
our bowls, (for it was understood that we were, with 
the soup, to have an allowance of both beef and 
bacon, to-day,) \vc were told that puddings Ijad been 
boiled for us, and that we must bring dishes to re- 
ceive them in. This occasioned some delay, until 
we obtained vessels from the quarter. In addition 
to at least two gallons of soup, about a pound of beef, 
and a small piece of bacon, I obtained nearly tw^o 
pounds of pudding, made of corn meal, mixed with 
lard, and boiled in large bags. This pudding, with 
the molasses that we had at home, formed a very 
palatable second course, to our bread, soup, and ve- 
getables. 

On Sunday afternoon, we had a meeting, at 
which many of our party attended. A man named 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. ^Uo 

Jacob, who had come from Virginia, sang and pray- 
ed ; but a great many of the people went out about 
the plantation, in search of frui(s ; for there were 
many peach and some fig trees, standing along the 
fences, on various parts of the estate With us, this 
was a day of uninterrupted happiness. 

A man cannot w^ell be miseraljle, when he sees 
every one about him immersed in pleasure; and 
though our fiirc of to-day, was not of a ([uality to yield 
me much gratifiration, \ct such was the impulse 
given to my fot^ling^. l)y the universal hilarity and 
contentment, wliich prevailed amongst my fellows, 
that I forgot for the time, all the sul)jects of grief that 
were stored in my memory, all the acts of wrong 
that had been perpetrated against me, and entered 
with the most sincere and earnest sentiments, in the 
participation of the felicity of our community. 



CHAPTER XII. 

At the time of which I now speak, the rice was 
ripe, and ready to be gathered. On Monday morn- 
ing, after our feast, the overseer took the whole of 
U9 to the rice field, to enter upon the harvest of this 
crop. The field lay in a piece of low ground, near 
the river, and in such a position that it could be flood- 
ed by the water of the stream, in wet seasons. The 
rice is planted in drills, or rows, and grows more 
like oats than any of the other grain, known in the 
north. 



204 NARRATIVE OF THE 

The water is sometimes let in to the riee fields, and 
drawn off again, several times, according to the state 
of the weather. Watering and weeding the rice is 
considered one of the most unhealthy occupations on 
a southern plantation, as the people are obliged to 
live for several weeks in the mud and water, subject 
to all the unwholesome vapours that arise from stag- 
nant pools, under the rays of a summer sun, as well 
as the chilly autumnal dews of night. At the time 
we came to cut this rice, the field was quite dry ; 
and after we had reaped and bound it, we hauled it 
upon wagons, to a piece of hard ground, where we 
made a threshing floor, and threshed it. In some 
places, they tread out the rice, with mules or horses, 
as they tread wheat in Maryland ; but this renders 
the grain dusty, and is injurious to its sale. 

After getting in the rice, we were occupied for 
some time in clearing and ditching swampy land, 
preparatory to a more extended culture of rice, the 
next year : and about the first of August, twenty or 
thirty of the people, principally women and children, 
were employed for two weeks in making cider, of 
apples which grew in an orchard of nearly two 
hundred trees, that stood on a part of the estate. 
After the cider was made, a barrel of it was one day 
brought to the field, and distributed amongst us; 
but this gratuity was not repeated. The cider that 
was made by the people, was converted into brandy, 
at a still in the corner of the orchard. 

I often obtained cider to drink, at the still, which 
was sheltered from the weather by a shed, of boards 



ADVENTURE3 OF CIIARLFS BALL. 205 

•ind slalw. Wc were not permitted to go into the 
orchard at pleasure ; but as loiiij: as the apples con- 
tinued, we were allowed the privilege of sending five 
or six persons ev«.Ty evening, for the puryK^se of 
bringing apples to the quarter, for our common use ; 
and by Uiking large l)askel«, and filling tbem \vv\\, 
wc generally confrivc.l to get aij many as wc could 
consume. 

When the peaclies ri|)onrfL tbcy were guarded 
with more rigour— peach brandy Immu- an article 
which is nowhere more higbly pri/ed tlian in South 
Carolina. TJiere were on the plantation, more than 
a thousand |)each trct^s, growing on |xx)r sandv fi.-lds 
which were no longer worth the expense of cultiva- 
tion. 'Vhe best peacll.^s grow upon the poorest sand- 
hills. 

We were allowed to Lake three bushels of peaciies 
every day, for ihe use of the (piarter ; but we <ould, 
and did eat, at least three times that (|uantity for 
we stole at night that which was not given ns by 
day. . 1 confes.s, that I took part in these thells, and 
I do not feel that I committed any wrong, against 
either God or man, by my participation iirthe^'com- 
mon danger that we ran, for u e wHl knrw the con- 
sequences that would liave followed detection. 

After the feast at laying by the corn and cotton, 
we had no meat for several weeks; and it is my 
opuiion that our master lost money, by the economy 
he practised at this season of the year. 

In the month of Augu-^t, we had to save the fod. 
der. This fodder-saving is the most toilsome, and 
next to working in the rice swamps, the most un 
18 



206 NARRATIVE OF THE 

healthy job, that has to be peiforrned on a cotton 
plantation, in the whole year. The manner of doing 
it is to cut the tops from the corn, as is done in Penn- 
sylvania; but in addition to this, the blades below 
the ear, are always pulled off by the hand. Great 
pains is taken with these corn-blades. They consti- 
tute the chosen food of race, and all other horses, 
that are intended to be kept with extraordinary care, 
and in superior condition. For the purpose of pro- 
curing the best blades, they are frequently stripped 
from the stock, sometimes before the corn is ripe 
enough in the ear, to permit the top of the stalk to 
be cut ofi', without prejudice to the grain. After the 
blades are stripped from the stem, they are stuck be- 
tween the hills of corn until they are cured, ready 
for the stack. They are then cut, and bound in 
sheaves, with small bands of the blades themselves. 
This binding, and the subsequent hauling from the 
lieldj must be done either early in the morning, be- 
fore the dew is dried up, or in the night, whilst the 
dew is falling. 

This work exposes the people who do it, to the fogs 
and damps of the climate, at the most unhealthy 
season of the year. Agues, fevers, and all the dis- 
eases which follow in their train, have their dates at 
the time of fodder-saving. It is the onl}^ work, ap- 
pertaining to a cotton estate, which must of necessity 
be done in <lie night, or in the fogs of the morning ; 
and the people at this season of the year, and whilst 
engaged in this very fatiguing work, would certainly 
be better able to go through with it, if they were reg- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARI.ES P.ALL. 207 

ularlv siippliod, with proper portions of sound and 
wholesonic salted provisions. 

If every master would, throucrh the months of Au- 
jiust and September, supply his people with only a 
fpiarter of a pjund of good hacon Mitch to each per- 
son, daily, I have no douht but thai he would save 
money by it; to say nothim^ of the great comfort it 
would y'\M to the slaves, at this period, when the 
l)uman frame is so subject to debility and feebleness. 

Early in Ausrust, disease made its appearance 
amongst us. Several were attacked by the ague, 
with its accompanying ftver ; but in South Caro- 
lina, the " ague,"' as it is called, is scarcely regarded 
as a disease, and if n slavf* hns no nilnient that is 
deemed more danirerous, he is luivrv withdrawn 
from tfie rt)ll of the field hands. I have seen many 
of our poor people compelled to j)ick cotton, when 
their frames were shaken so violently, by the ague, 
that they were unable to iret hold of the cotton in the 
burs, without dinifulty. In this, masters commit a 
great error. Many tine slaves are lost, by this dis- 
ease, which superinduces the dropsy, and sometimes 
the consumption, which could have been prevented 
by arresting the ague at its onset. When any of our 
people were taken so ill that they were not able to 
go to the field, they were removed to the great house, 
and placed in the "sick room," as it was termed. 
This sick room was a large, airy apartment, in the 
second story of a building which stood in the garden. 

The lower part of this building was divided into 
two apartments, in one of which wag kept the milk, 



208 NARRATIVE OF THE 

butter, and other things connected with the dairy. 
In the other, the salt provisions of the family, in- 
cluding fish, bacon, and other articles, were secu- 
red. This apartment also constituted the smoke 
house ; but as the ceiling was lathed, and plastered 
with a thick coat of lime and sand, no smoke could 
penetrate the " sick room,'' which was at all seasons 
of the year, a very comfortable place to sleep in. 

Though I was never sick myself, whilst on this 
plantation, I was several times in this " sick room," 
and always observed, when there, that the sick slaves 
were well attended to. There was a hanging parti- 
tion, which could be let down at pleasure, and 
which was let down when it was necessary, to divide 
the rooms into two apartments, which always hap- 
pened when there were several slaves of different 
sexes, sick at the same time. 

The beds, upon which the sick lay, were of straw, 
but clean and wholesome, and the patients when 
once in this room, were provided with every thing 
necessary for persons in their situation. A physician 
attended them daily, and proper food, and even wines, 
were not wanting. 

The contrast between the cotton and rice fields, 
and this little hospital, was very great ; and it ap- 
peared to me at the time, that if a part of the tender- 
ness and benevolence, displayed here, had been be- 
stowed upon the people whilst in good health, very 
many of the inmates of this infirmary, would never 
have been here. 

1 have often seen the same misapplication of the 



ADVrXTURES OF CHARLES BVI.L. 209 

principles of philanthropy in Pennsylvania, — the sub- 
jects only l)einfT varied, from slaver=i-to horses. The 
finest and nirist vaiual)le horses, are often overwork- 
ed, (ir driven Ixnoiid their rapacity of endurance, (it 
cannot be said that horses are not ijenerally well fed 
in Pennsylvania.^ without mercy or consideration, 
on the part of thrir owners; or more fnM|ncntly of 
nr:l«'clin<j hinlinirs who have no int«M»'si in the life 
of ih<' (XKir aninuil ; and wIumi his constitution is bro- 
kiri, and Ids health f^one, creat care and even ex- 
pense, air b<'<tow«"d u[>on bin), for thr piir|>ose of re- 
storini^ him to his former strength ; the one half of 
which care or exjMMise, would have preserved him in 
beauty and vii;. >nr. bad tln'V been bestowrd ujioii 
him b«;f )!(• hr had sullered the irreparable injuries, 
attondani upon his cruel tr«'atment. 

In !N'iiii<ylvania, the horse is re;;ar(led, and justlv 
rci^irdcd i»nl\- on account of the labour lit; is able to 
p'rform. HeinjT i|m» subject of property, his owner 
considers, not how he -hall add most to the eninlnrts 
and enjoyment^ of hi< lior-e. hut by what means he* 
shall Im» aide to procure the i2:reatest amount of labour 
from him. wiili tin; least expense to hunselt'. In de 
vising the means of saviiiir expense, the life of the 
horse, and the surest and cheapest method of its pres- 
ervation, are taken into consideration. 

Precisely in this way, do the cotton planters reason 
and act, in relation to their slaves. Regarding the 
negroes merely as objects of property, like prudent 
calculators, they study how to render this property 
of the greatest value, and to obtain the greatest 
1^* 



210 NARRATIVE OF THE 

yearly income, from the capital invested in the 
slaves, and the lands they cultivate. 

Experience has proved to me, that a man who 
eats no animal food, may yet be healthy, and able 
to perform the work usually done on a cotton planta- 
tion. Corn bread, sweet potatoes, some garden vege- 
tables, with a little molasses and salt, assisted by the 
other accidental supplies that a thrifty slave is able 
to procure, on a plantation, are capable of sustaining 
life and health ; and a slave who lives on such food, 
and never tastes flesh, stands at least an equal 
chance, for long life, with his master or mistress, 
" who are clad in purple and fine linen, and fare 
sumptuously every day." More people are killed by 
eating and drinking too much, than die of the ef- 
fects of starvation, in the south ; but the diseases of 
the white man, do not diminish the sufferings of the 
black one. A man who lives upon vegetable diet, 
may be healthy, and active ; but I know he is not so 
strong and vigorous, as if he enjoyed a portion of ani- 
mal food. 

The labour usually performed by slaves, on a cot- 
ton plantation, does not require great bodily strength, 
but rather superior agility, and wakefulness. The 
hoes in use, are not heavy, and the art of picking 
cotton depends not upon superior strength, but upon 
the power of giving quick and accelerated motion to 
the fingers, arms, and legs. The fences have to be 
made, and repaired, and ditches dug — wood must 
also be cut, for many purposes, and all these opera- 
tions call for strength ; but they consume only a very 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 211 

small portion of the whole year, — more than three 
fourths of which is spent in the cotton, corn, rice, and 
indigo fields, where the strength of a boy, or a wo- 
man is sufficient to perform any kind of labour, ne- 
cessary in the culture of the plants ; but men arc 
able to do more, even of this work", than either boys 
or women. 

We scarcely had lime to coniplnr the securing of 
the f(Kl(ier, and working up the apples, and [leachcs, 
wlirn I he cottnii was ready for picking. This lousi- 
ness of picking cottmi, constitutes about half (lie la- 
bour of the year, on a large plauiatinn. in (Caroli- 
na, it is genendly comui(>iic«.'d about the (irst of Sep- 
tember ; though in some years, nuich cotton is pick- 
ed in August. The manner of doing the work is 
this. The cotton being planted in lulls, in straight 
rows, from four to five feet apart, each hand or pick- 
er, provided with a bag, made of cotton bagging, hold- 
ing a bushel or more, hung round the neck, with 
cords, proceeds from one side of the field to th<.' other, 
between two of these rows, picking all the cotton 
from the open burs, on the right and left, as he goes. 
It is the business of the picker to take all the cotton, 
from each of the rows, as far as the lines of the rows 
or hills. In this way lie picks lialf the cotton from 
each of the rows, and the pickers who come on his 
right and left, take the remainder from the opposite 
sides of the rows. 

The cotton is gathered into the bag, and when it 
becomes burdensome by its weight, it is deposited in 
some convenient place, until night, when it is taken 



212 NARRATIVE OF THE 

home, either in a large bag or basket, and weighed 
under the inspection of the overseer. A day's work 
is not estimated by the number of hills, or rows, that 
are picked in the day, but l)y the number of pounds 
of cotton in the seed, that the picker brings into the 
cotton house, at night. 

In a good field of cotton, fully ripe, a day's w^ork 
is sixty pounds ; but where the cotton is of inferior 
quahty, or the burs are not in full blow, lilty pounds 
is tiie day's work; and where the cotton is poor, or 
in bad order, forty, or even thirty pounds, is as much 
as one hand can get in a day. 

The picking of cotton, continues from August un- 
til December, or January ; and in some fields, they 
pick from the old plants^ until they are ploughed up 
in February or March, to make room for the plant- 
ing of the seeds of another crop. 

On all estates, the standard of a day's work is fix- 
ed by the overseer, according to the quality of the 
cotton ; and if a hand gathers more than this stand- 
ard, he is paid for it ; but if, on the other hand, when 
his or her cotton is weighed at the cotton-house, in 
the evening, it is found that the standard quantity 
has not been picked, the delinquent picker is sure to 
receive a whipping. 

On some estates, settlements are made every even- 
ing, and the whipping follows immediately ; on 
others, the whipping does not occur until the next 
morning, whilst on a few plantations, the accounts 
are closed twice, or three times a week. 

I have stated heretofore, that our overseer whip- 



ADVENTURCS OF CHARLES BALL. 213 

perl twice a week, for the purpose of saving time ; 
but if this method saved time to the overseer and 
the hands, it also saved the latter of a great many 
hard stripes ; for very often, when one of us had dis- 
pleased the overseer, he would tell us tliat on Wed- 
nesday or Saturday night, as the case might be, we 
should be remembered; yet the matter was either 
ftjr<_,n)tten, or the passion of the overseer subdued, be- 
fore the time of retribution arrived, and the delin- 
quent e.^caj^ed altorrctlicr from tlic punishment, 
wliicb would certainly have fallen upon hifn, if it 
had l)een th(; custom of the overseer to chastise for 
every olfence, at the nnHuenf, or ev(,'n on the day, of 
its perpetration. A short d;iys woriv was always 
pimisiied. 

The cotton does not all ripen at the same time, on 
the same plant, wlii<h is [)icked and repicked, from 
six to ten times. The burs ripen, and burst open on 
the lower branches of the plant, whilst those at the 
top are yet in flower ; or perhaps only in leaf or bud. 
The plant grows on taller and larger, until it is ar- 
rested by the frost, or cool weather in autunm, con- 
tiiiuallv throwing out new branches, new stems, 
new blossoms, and new burs, ceasing only with the 
first frost, at which time there are always some 
green burs, at the top of the plant, that never arrive 
at maturity. This state of things is, however, often 
prevented by topping the plant, in August or Sep- 
tember, which prevents it from throwhig out new- 
branches, and blossoms, and forwards the growth 
and ripening of those already formed. 



214 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



The first picking, takes the cotton from the burs 
of the lowest branches ; the second from those a httle 
higher, and so on, until those of the latest growth, at 
the top of the plant, are reached. 

When the season has been bad, or from any other 
cause, the crop is light, the picking is sometimes 
complete, and the field clear of the cotton, before the 
first of January ; but when the crop is heavy, or the 
people have been sickly in the fall, the picking is fre- 
quently protracted until February, or even the first 
of March. The winter does not injure the cotton, 
standing in the field, lliough the wind blows some of 
it out of the expanded burs, wliich is thus scattered 
over the field and lost. 

An acre of prime land, will yield two thousand 
pounds of cotton in the seed. I have heard of three 
thousand pounds having been picked from an acre, 
but have not seen it. Four pounds of cotton in the 
seed, yields one pound when cleaned, and prepared 
for market. 

It is estimated by the planters, or rather by the 
overseers, that a good hand can cultivate and pick 
five acres of cotton, and raise as much corn as will 
make his bread, and feed a mule or a horse. I 
know this to be a very hard task for a single hand, 
if the land is good, and the crops at all luxuriant. 
One man may, with great diligence, and continued 
good health, be able to get through with the cotton, 
and two or three, or even five acres of corn, up to 
the time when the cotton is ready to be picked ; but 
from this period, he will find the labour more than 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 215 

he can perform, if the cotton is to be picked clean 
from the plants. Five acres of good cotton will 
yield ten thousand pounds of rough, or seed cot- 
ton. If he can pick sixty pounds a day, and works 
twenty-five day< in a month, the picking of ten 
thousand pounds will occupy him more than six 
months. 

From my own observations, on the plantations 
of Soutii Carolina and Georgia, 1 am of opinion, 
that the planters in those stales, do not get more 
than six or seven thousand pounds of cotton in the 
seed, for each hand employed; and I presume, that 
fifteen hundred pounds of clean cotton, is a full aver- 
age of the product of the labour of each hand. 

I now entered upon a new scene of life. My true 
value had not yot been ascertained i)y my present 
owner; and whether 1 was to hold the rank of a 
firnt, or second rate hand, coukl only be determined 
by an experience of my al)ility to pick cotton ; nor 
was this important trait in my character, to be fully 
understood l)y a trial of one, or only a few days. It 
requires some time to enable a stranger, or new hand, 
to acquire the sleight of picking cotton. 

I had ascertained, that at the hoe, the spade, 
the axe, the sickle, or the flail, 1 was a full match 
for the best hands on the plantation ; but soon dis- 
covered, when we came to the picking of cotton, that 
I was not equal to a boy of twelve or fifteen years 
of age. I worked hard the first day, and made 
every effort to sustain the character that 1 had ac- 
quired, amongst my companions, but when evening 



216 NARRATIVE OF THE 

came, and our cotton was weighed. I had onty thirty- 
eight pounds, and was vexed to see that two young 
men, about my own age, had, one fifty-eight, and 
the other fifty-nine pounds. This was our first day's 
work; and the overseer had not yet settled the 
amount of a day's picking. It was necessary for 
him to ascertain, by the experience of a few days, 
how much the best hands coukl pick in a day, before 
he established the standard of the season. I hung 
down my head, and felt very much ashamed of my- 
self, when I found that my cotton was so far behind 
that of many, even of the women, who had hereto- 
fore regarded me as the strongest and most powerful 
man of the whole gang. 

I had exerted n^yself to-day, to the utmost of my 
power ; and as the picking of cotton seemed to be 
so very simple a business, I felt apprehensive that I 
should never be able to improve myself, so far as to 
become even a second rate hand. In this posture 
of affairs, I looked forward to something still more 
painful than the loss of character which I must sus- 
tain, both with my fellows and my master ; for I 
knew that the lash of the overseer would soon be- 
come famihar with my back, if I did not perform as 
much \vork as any of the other young men. 

I expected, indeed, that it would go hard with me 
even now, and stood by with feelings of despond- 
ence and terror, whilst the other people were getting 
their cotton weighed. When it was all weighed, 
the overseer came to me where I stood, and told me 
to show him my hands. When I had done this, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 217 

and he had looked at them, he observed— "You have 
a pair of good hands— you will make a good picker." 
This faint praise of the overseer revived my spirits 
greatly, and I went home with a lighter heart than 
1 had expected to possess, before the termination of 
cotton-picking. 

When I came to get my cotton weighed, on the 
evening of the second day, I was rejoiced to find 
that I had forty-six pounds, although I had not work- 
ed harder than I did the first day. On the third 
evening I had fifty-two pounds ; and before tlie end 
of the week, there were only three hands in the 
field— two men and a young woman — who could 
pick more cotton in a day, than I could. 

On the Monday morning of the second week when 
we went to the field, the overseer told us, that he 
fixed the day's work at fifty pounds: and tliat all 
those who picked more than that, would be paid a 
cent a pound, for the overplus. Twenty-five pounds 
was assigned as the daily task of the old people, as 
well as a number of lioys and girls, whilst some of 
the women, who had children, were required to 
pick forty pounds, and several children had ten 
pounds each as their task. 

Picking of cotton may almost be reckoned among 
the arts. A man who has arrived at the age of 
twenty-five, before he sees a cotton field, will ne- 
ver, in the language of the overseer, become a crack 
'picker. 

By great industry and vigilance, I was able, at 
the end of a month, to return every evening a {qw 
19 



218 NARRATIVE OF THE 

pounds over the daily rale, for which I received my 
pay ; but the business of picking cotton was an irk- 
some, and fatiguing labour to me, and one to which 
I could never become thoroughly reconciled ; for the 
reason, I believe, that in every other kind of work in 
^vhich I was engaged in the south, I was able to 
acquire the character of a first rate hand ; whilst 
in picking cotton, I was hardly regarded as a frime 
liand. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

In a community of near three hundred persons, 
governed by laws as severe and unbending as those 
which regulated our actions, it is not to be expected 
that universal content can prevail, or that crimes 
will not be imagined, and even sometimes perpe- 
trated. Ignorant men estimate those things which 
fortune has placed beyond their reach, not by their 
real value, but by the strength of their own desires 
and passions. Objects in themselves indifferent, 
which they are forbidden to touch, or even ap- 
proach, excite in the minds of the unreflecting, 
ungovernable impulses. The slave, who is taught 
from infancy, to regard his condition as unchange- 
able, and his fate as fixed, by the laws of nature, 
fancies that he sees his master in possession of that 
happiness which he knows has been denied to him- 
self. The lower men are sunk in the scale of 
civilization, the more violent become their animal 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 219 

passions. The native Africans are revengeful, and 
unforgiving in their tempers, easily provoked, and 
cruel in their designs. They generally place little, 
or even no value, upn the fine houses, and superb 
furniture of their masters ; and discover no beauty 
in the fair complexions, and delicate forms of their 
mistresses. They feel indignant at the servitude 
that is imposed iii)on tiicm, and only want power to 
indict the most cruel retribution upon their oppres- 
.sors : Imt thev desire only the means of subsistence, 
and to!nporary irratiliration in this country, during 
their abode here. 

They are universally of opinion, and this opinion 
is founded in their religion, that after death they 
shall return to their own country, and rejoin their 
former companions and friends, in some happy re- 
gion, in which they will be provided with plenty of 
food, and beautiful women, from the lovely daugh- 
ters of their own native land. 

The case is different with the American negro, 
who knows nothing of Africa, her religion, or cus- 
toms, and who has borrowed all his ideas of pre- 
sent and future happiness, from the opinions and 
intercourse of white people, and of Christians. He 
is, perhaps, not so impatient of slavery, and excessive 
lal)Our, as the native of Congo ; but his mind is bent 
upon other pursuits, and his discontent works out 
for itself other schem-s, than those which agitate the 
brain of the imported negro. His lieart pants for 
no heaven beyond the waves of the ocean ; and he 
dreams of no deUghts in the arms of sable beauties, 



220 NARRATIVE OF THE 

in groves of immortality, on the banks of the Niger, 
or the Gambia ; nor does he often solace himself 
with the reflection, that the day will arrive when 
all men will receive the awards of immutable jus- 
tice, and Jive together in eternal bhss, without any 
other distinctions than those of superior virtue, and 
exalted mercy. Circumstances oppose great obsta- 
cles in the way of these opinions. 

The slaves who are natives of the country, (I 
now speak of the mass of those on the cotton planta- 
tions, as I knew them,) hke all other people, who 
suffer wrong in this world, are exceedingly prone to 
console themselves with the dehghts of a future 
state, when the evil that has been endured in this 
hfe, will not only be abolished, and all injuries be 
compensated by proper rewards, bestowed upon the 
sufferers, but, as they have learned that wickedness 
is to be punished, as well as goodness compensated, 
they do not stop at the point of their own enjoyments 
and pleasures, but believe that those who have tor- 
mented them here, will most surely be tormented in 
their turn hereafter. The gross and carnal minds 
of these slaves, are not capable of arriving at the 
sublime doctrines taught by the white preachers ; in 
which they are encouraged to look forward to the 
day when all distinctions of colour, and of condition, 
will be abolished, and they shall sit down in the same 
paradise, with their masters, mistresses, and even 
with the overseer. Tliey aie ready enough to re- 
ceive the faith, which conducts them to heaven, and 
eternal rest, on account of their present sufferings j 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 221 

but they by no means so willingly admit the master 
and mistress to an equal participation in their en- 
joyments — this would only be partial justice, and 
half way retribution. According to their notions, 
the master and mistress are to be, in future, the 
companions of wicked slaves, whilst an agreeable 
recreation of the celestial inhabitants of the ne- 
gro's heaven, will be a return to the overseer of 
the countless lashes that he has lent out so liberally 
here. 

It is iuipossible to reconcile the mind of the native 
slave to the idea of living in a state of perfect equal- 
ity, and boundless afTection, with the white people. 
Heaven will be no heaven to bin), if he is not to bo 
avenged of hi-; enemies. 1 know, from experience, 
that these are the fundauK'nlal rules of his religious 
creed ; because I learned them in the religious meet- 
ings of the slaves themselves. A favourite and kind 
master or mistress, may now and then be admitted 
into heaven, but this rather as a matter of favour, 
to the intercession of some slave, than as matter of 
strict justice to the whites, who will, by no means, 
be of an equal rank with those who shall be raised 
from the depths of misery, in this world. 

The idea of a revolution in the conditions of the 
whites and the blacks, is the corner-stone of the re- 
ligion of the latter ; and indeed, it seems to me, at 
least, to be quite natural, if not in strict accordance 
with the precepts of the Bible ; for in that book, I 
find it every where laid down, that those who have 
possessed an inordinate portion of the good things of 
19* 



222 NARRATIVE OF THE 

this world, and have lived in ease and luxury, at 
the expense of their fellow men will surely have to 
render an account of their stewardship, and be 
punished, for having withheld fiom others the par- 
ticipation of those blessings, which they themselves 
enjoyed. 

There is no subject which presents to the mind 
of the male slave a greater contrast between his 
own condition and that of his master, than the re- 
lative station and appearance of his wife and his 
mistress. The one, poorly clad, poorly fed, and ex- 
posed to all the hardships of tlie cotton field ; the 
other dressed in clothes of gay and various colours, 
ornamented with jewelry, and carefully protected 
from the rays of the sun, and the blasts of the 
wind. 

As I have before observed, the Africans have feel- 
ings peculiar to themselves ; but with an American 
slave, the possession of the spacious house, splendid 
furniture, and fine horses of his master, are but the 
secondary objects of his desires. To fill the njea- 
sure of his happiness, and crown his highest ambi- 
tion, his young and beautiful mistress must adorn his 
triumph, and enliven his hopes. 

I have been drawn into the above reflections, by 
the recollection of an event of a most melancholy 
character, which took place when 1 had been on this 
plantation about three months. Amongst the house- 
servants of my master, was a young man, named 
Hardy, of a dark yellow complexion — a quadroon, 



adventurp:s of charles ball. 223 

or mulatto — one fouitli of whose blood was traiis- 
niitted from white parentage. 

Hardy was enii)loyod in various kinds of work 
about the house, and was frecjuently sent of errands ; 
sometimes on horseback. I liad l)ccome acquainted 
with the boy, who had often come to see me at the 
quarter, and had sometimes staid all night with me, 
and often told me of the ladies and gentlemen, who 
visited at the great house. 

A mon,rst others, he frequently spoke of a young 
lady, wlio resided six or seven miles from the 
plantation, and often came to visit the daughters 
of the family, in company with her brother, a lad 
al)>)ut twelve or fourteen years of age. He de- 
scrilnnl llie jxreat l)caniy of liiis jrirl, whose mother 
was a widow, livinir on a small estate of her own. 
Tliis Lady did not keep a carriage; l)Ut her son and 
dani^diler, when ihey went abroad, travelled on 
horseback. 

One Sunday, the-c two young people came to 
visit at the house of my master, and remained until 
after tea in the evening. As I did not go out to 
w^ork that day, I went over to the great house, and 
from the house to a place in the woods, about a 
mile distant, wdiere I had set snares for rabbits. 
This place was near the road, and I saw the young 
lady and her brother, on their way home. It was 
after sundown, when they passed me ; but, as the 
evening was clear and pleasant, I supposed they 
would get home soon after dark, and that no accident 
would befall them. 



224 NARRATIVE OF THE 

No more was thought of the matter this evening, 
and I heard nothing further of the young people, 
until the next day, about noon, when a black boy 
came into the field, where we were picking cotton, 
and went to the overseer with a piece of paper. In 
a short time the overseer called me to come with 
him ; and, leaving the field with the hands under 
the orders of Simon, the first captain, we proceeded 
to the great house. 

As soon as we arrived at the mansion, my master, 
who had not spoken to me since the day we came 
from Columbia, appeared at the front door, and or- 
dered me to come in and follow him. He led me 
through a part of the house, and passed into the 
back yard, where I saw the young gentleman, his 
son, another gentleman, whom I did not know, the 
family doctor, and the overseer, all standing to- 
gether, and in earnest conversation. At my ap- 
pearance, the overseer opened a cellar door, and 
ordered me to go in. I had no suspicion of evil, 
and obeyed the order immediately : as, indeed, I 
must have obeyed it, whatever might have been my 
suspicions. 

The overseer, and the gentlemen, all followed ; 
and as soon as the cellar door was closed after us, 
by some one whom I could not see, 1 was ordered 
to pull off my clothes, and lie down on my back. 
I was then bound by the hands and feet, with 
strong cords, and extended at full length between 
two of the beams that supported the timbers of the 
building. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 225 

The stranger, wlio, I now observed, was much 
agitated, spoke to the doctor, who then opened a 
small case of surgeons' instiuments, which he took 
from his pocket, and tokl me he was going to skin 
me, for wliat I had done last night ; " But," said the 
doctor, '• lK'f(jre you are skinned, you had better con- 
fess your crime." " What crime, master, shall I con- 
fess 7 I have committed no crime— what lias been 
done, that you are goinir to murdor mo / " was|my re- 
ply. My master lli.n askrd m.', why I had followed 
tlie young lady and lior brother, who went from 
the house the evening before, and nuirdered her .^ 
Astonished and territied at the charge of being a 
murderer. I knew not what to say ; and only contin- 
ued the protestations of my innocence, and my en- 
treaties not to be put ♦o death. My young master 
was greatly enraged against me, and loaded me with 
maledictions, and imprecations ; and his father ap- 
peared to l)e as well satisfieil as he was, of my guilt, 
but was more calm, and less vociferous in his lan- 
guage. 

The doctor, dming this time, was assorting his in- 
struments, and looking at me— then stooping down, 
and feeling my pulse, he said, it would not do to 
skin a n\an so full of blood as I was. I should bleed 
so nuicli that he could not see to do his work ; and 
he should probably cut some large vein, or artery, 
by which I should bleed to death in a few minutes : 
it was necessary to bleed me in the arms, for some 
time, so as to reduce the quantity of blood that was 
in me, before taking my skin off. He then bound a 



226 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



String round my right arm, and opened a vein near 
tlie middle of the arm, from which the blood ran in 
a large and smooth stream. I already began to feel 
faint, with the loss of blood, when the cellar door was 
thrown open, and several persons came down, with 
two lighted candles. 

I looked at these people attentively, as they came 
near, and stood around me, and expressed their 
satisfaction at the just and dreadful punishment 
that I was about to undergo. Their faces were 
all new, and unknown to me, except that of a 
lad, whom I recognized as the same, who had rid- 
den by me, the preceding evening, in company with 
his sister. 

My old master spoke to this boy, by name, and 
told him to come and see the itiurderer of his sister 
receive his due. The _boy was a pretty youth, and 
wore his hair long, on the top of his liead, in the fa- 
shion of that day. As he came rouna near my 
head, the light of a candle, w^hich the doctor held in 
his hand, shone full in my face, and seeing that the 
eyes of the boy met mine, I determined to make 
one more effort to save my life, and said to him, in 
as calm a tone as I could, '• Young master, did I 
murder young mistress, your sister ? " The youth 
immediately looked at my master, and said, " This is 
not the man, — this man has short wool, and he 
had long wool, hke your Hardy." 

My life was saved. I was snatched from the 
most horrible of tortures ; and from a slow and pain- 
ful death. I was unbound, the bleeding of my arm 



V4DVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 227 

stopped, and I was suf]bred to put on my clothes, 
and go up into the back yard of tlie house, where I 
was required to tell what I knew oftlie young lady 
and her brother, on the previous day. I stated that 
I had seen them in the court yard of the house, at 
the time I was in the kitchen ; that I Jiad then 
ffone to the woods, to set my snares, and had .<een 
them pass along the road, near me, and that this 
was all the knowledge I had of them. Tlie boy 
was then required to r.vaniinc nir particularly, and 
ascorfnin whether I was, or was not, the man who 
had murdered hi. sister. He said, he iiad not seen 
"10 at the place, where I stated I was, and that he 
uas confident I was not the person who had attack- 
ed him and his sister. That my hair, or wool, as he 
'••^llrd ,t. was short; but that of the man who com- 
initted the crime was long, hke Hardy's, and that 
I'c was about the size of Hardy— not so large as 
1 was, but black like me, and not yellow^ like 
Hardy. Some one now asked where Hardy was 
and he was called for, but could not be found in 
the kitchen. Persons were sent to the quarter, and 
other places, in quest of hii.L but returned without 
Inm. Hardy was nowhere to be found. Whilst 
this inquiry, or rather search, was going on,— per- 
ceiving that my old master had ceased to look upon 
me as a murderer, I asked him to please to tell me 
what had happened, that had been so near provinir 
fatal to me. ^ 

I was now informed, that the young lady, who 
had left the house on the previous evening, in com- 



228 NARRATIVE OF THE 

pany with her brother, had been assailed on the 
road, about four miles off, by a black man, who had 
sprung from a thicket, and snatched her from her 
horse, as she was riding at a short distance behind 
her brother. That the assassin, as soon as she was 
on the ground, struck her horse a blow with a long 
stick, which, together with the fright caused by the 
screams of its rider, when torn from it, had caused it 
to fly off at full speed ; and the horse of the brother 
also taking fright, followed in pursuit, notwithstand- 
ing all the exertions of the lad to stop it. All the 
account the brother could give of the matter was, 
that as his horse ran with him, he saw the ne- 
gro drag his sister into the woods, and heard her 
screams for a short time. He was not able to stop 
his horse, until he reached home, when he gave 
information to his mother, and her family. That 
people had been scouring the woods all night, and all 
the morning, without being able to find the 3'oung 
lady. 

When intelligence of this horrid crime was brought 
to the house oi my master, Hardy was the fust 
to receive it ; he having gone to take the horse 
of the person, — a young gentleman of the neigh- 
bourhood, — who bore it, and who immediately re- 
turned to join his friends, in their search for the dead 
body. 

As soon as the messenger was gone, Hardy had 
come to my master, and told him, that if he would 
prevent me from murdering him, he w^ould disclose 
the perpetrator of the crime. He was then ordered 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 229 

to communicate all he knew, on the subject; and 
declared, that, having gone into the woods the day 
before, to hunt squirrels, he staid until it was late, 
and on his return home, hearing the shrieks of a 
woman, he had proceeded cautiously to the place ; 
but before he could arrive at ihc spot, tjic cries had 
ceased ; nevertheless, he had found mo, after some 
f'aich, with the body of the y<.unglady, whom I had 
jii-t killed, and tliat I was ab(»ut, (., kill him too, 
wiiha hi.-kory club, but he had saved his life by 
])r()mi<ing that he would n<ner betray me. He was 
glad to leave me ; and what 1 had done with the 
body, he diil not know. 

Hardy was known in the ntigbbourhood, and his 
haracter had been good. J was a stranger, and 
on incpiiry. the black people in the kitchen supported 
Hardy, by saying, that 1 had been seen gi.ing to the 
woods, before night, by the way of the road^ which 
the deceased had travrllrd. These circumstances 
were deemed conclusive against me by my master- 
and as (he olFence, of which I was believed to be 
guilty, was the highest that can be committed by a 
slave, according to the opinion of owners, it was de- 
termined to punish me in a way unknown to the law, 
and lo indict tortures upon me which the law would 
not tolerate. I was now released, and though very 
weak from the eflects of bleeding, I was yet able to 
return to my own lodgings. 

J had no doubt, that Hardy was the perpetrator of 
the crime, for which I was so near losing my life ; 
and now recollected, that when I was at the kitcheri 
20 



230 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of the great house, on Sunday, he had disappeared, 
a short time before sundown, as I had looked for him 
when I was going to set my snares, but could not 
find him. I went back to the house, and commu- 
nicated this fact to my master. 

By this time, nearly twenty white men had col- 
lected about the dwelling, with the intention of going 
to search for the body of the lost lady ; but it was 
now resolved to make the look-out double, and tofgive 
it the twofold character of a pursuit of the hving, as 
well as a seeking for the dead. 

I now returned to my lodgings, in the quarter, and 
soon fell into a profound sleep, from which 1 did not 
awake until long after night, when all was quiet, and 
the stillness of undisturbed tranquillity prevailed over 
our little community. I felt restless, and sunk into a 
labyrinth of painful reflections, upon the horrid and 
perilous condition, from which I had this day esca- 
ped, as it seemed, merely by chance ; and as I slept 
until all sensations of drowsiness had left me, I rose 
from my bed, and walked out by the light of the 
moon, which was now shining. After being in the 
open air some time, I thought of the snares that I 
had set on Sunday evening, and determined to go, 
and see if they had taken any game. 1 sometimes 
caught oppossums in my snares ; and as these ani- 
mals were very fat, at this season of the year, I felt a 
hope that I might be fortunate enough to get one to- 
night. I had been at my snares, and had returned, 
as far as the road, near where I had seen the young 
lady and her brother, on horseback, on Sunday 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 231 

evening, and had seated myself under the boughs of 
a holly bush, that grew there. It so happened, that 
the place where I sat, was in the shade of the bush, 
within a few feet of the road, but screened from it by 
:=!ome small boughs. In this position, which I had 
taken by accident, I could see a great distance along 
iho road, towards the end of my master's lane. 
Though covered an I was, by the shade, and envel- 
o|)cd in boughs, it was dilTicult for a person in the 
road to see me. 

The occurrence that had befallen me, in the 
course of the previous clay, luul rendered me ner- 
vous, and easily susceptible of all the emotions of fear. 
I had not been long in this place, when I thought I 
heard sounds, as of a person walking on the ground 
at a quick pace ; and looking along the road, to- 
wards the lane, I saw the form of some one, passing 
throujxh a space in the ruad, where the beams of 
the moon, piercing between two trees, reached the 
ground. AVhen the moving body passed into the 
shade, 1 could not see it ; but in a short time, it came 
so near, that 1 could distinctly see that it was a man, 
approaching me by the road. When he came op- 
posite me, and the moon shone full in his face, I 
knew him to be a young mulatto, named David, the 
coachman of a w^idow lady, who resided somewhere 
near Charleston ; but who had been at the house of 
my master, for two or three weeks, as a visiter, with 
her two daughters. 

This man passed on at a quick step, without ob- 
serving me ; and the suspicion instantly riveted itself 



232 NARRATIVE OF THE 

in my mind, that he was the murderer, for whose 
crime I had aheady suffered so much, and that he 
was now on his way to the place where he had left 
the hody; for the purpose of removing, or burying it 
in the earth. I was confident, that no honest pur- 
pose could bring him to this place, at this time of 
night, alone. I was about two miles from home, and 
an equal distance from the spot, where the girl had 
been seized. 

Of her subsequent murder, no one entertained a 
doubt ; for it w^as not to be expected, that the fellow 
who had been guilty of one great crime, would flinch 
from the commission of another, of equal magnitude, 
and suffer his victim to exist, as a witness to identify 
his person. 

I felt animated, by a spirit of revenge, against the 
wa-etch, whoever he might be, who had brought me 
so near to torture and death ; and feeble and weak 
as I was, resolved to pursue the foot-steps of this 
coachman, at a wary and cautious distance, and as- 
certain, if possible, the object of his visit to these 
woods, at this time of night. 

I waited until he had passed me, more than a 
hundred yards ; and until I could barely discover his 
form, in the faint light of the deep shade of the trees, 
when steaUng quietly into the road, I followed, with 
the caution of a spy, traversing the camp of an ene- 
my. We were now in a dark pine forest, and on 
both sides of us, were tracts of low swampy ground, 
covered with thickets so dense, as to be difficult of 
penetration, even by a person on foot. The road led 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 233 

along a neck of elevated, and dry ground, that divi- 
ded these swamps for niore than a mile, wlien they 
terminated, and were succeeded by ground that pro- 
duced scarcely any other timl^er, than a scrubby kind 
of oak, called black jack. It was amongst thcic 
black jacks, about half a mile beyond the swamps, 
that the lady had been carried off. 1 bad often been 
here, for the purpose of snaring, and trapping, the 
small game of these woods, and was well ac([uainted 
with the topography of this forest, for some distance, 
on both sides of the road. 

It was necessary for me to use the utmost caution, 
in the enterprise I was now engaged in. The road 
we were now travelling, was in no place very broad, 
and at some points, barely wide enough to permit a 
carriage to pass between the trees, that hned its 
sides. In some places, it was so dark that I could 
not see the man, whose steps I followed : but was 
obliged to depend on the sound, produced by the 
tread of his feet, upon the ground. I deemed it ne- 
cessary to keep as close as possible, to the object of 
my pursuit, lest he should suddenly turn into the 
swamp, on one side or the other of the road, and 
elude my vigilance ; for I had no doubt that he 
would quit the road, somewhere. As we approach- 
ed the termination of the low grounds, my anxiety 
became intense, lest he should escape me ; and at 
one time, I could not have been more than one hun- 
dred feet behind him ; but he continued his course, 
until he reached the oak woods, and came to a place 
where an old cart-road led off to the left, along the side 
20* 



234 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of the Dark Swamp, as it was termed in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

This road, the mulatto took, without turning to 
look behind him. Here my difficulties, and perils 
increased, for I now felt myself in danger, as I had 
no longer any doubt, that I was on the trail of the 
murderer, and that, if discovered by him, my hfe 
would be the price of my curiosit)^ I was too weak 
to be able to struggle wi'th him, for a minute ; though 
if the blood which I had lost, through his wicked- 
ness, could have been restored to my veins, I could 
have seized him by the neck, and strangled him. 

The road I now had to travel, was so litde fre- 
quented, that bushes of the ground oak, and bilberry, 
stood thick, in almost every part of it. Many of these 
bushes were full of dry leaves, which had been touch- 
ed by the frost, but had not yet fallen. It was easy 
for me to follow him, for I pursued by the noise he 
made, amongst these bushes ; but it was not so easy 
for me to avoid, on my part, the making of a rust- 
ling, and agitation of tlie bushes, which might ex- 
pose me to detection. I was now obliged to depend 
wholly on my ears, to guide my pursuit, my eyes 
being occupied in watching my own ^vay, to enable 
me to avoid every object, the touching of which was 
likely to produce sound. 

I followed this road more than a mile, led by the 
cracking of the sticks, or the shaking of the leaves. 
At length, I heard a loud, shrill whistle, and then a 
total silence succeeded. I now stood still, and in a 
few seconds, heard a noise in the sw^amp hke the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 235 

drumming of a pheasant. Soon afterwards, I heard 
the breaking of sticks, and the sounds caused by the 
bending of branches of trees. In a little time, I was 
satisfied, that sometlung liaving life was moving in 
the swamp, and coming towards the place where the 
mulatto stood. 

This was at the end of the cart-road, and opposite 
some large pine trees, which grew in the swamp, at 
the distance of two or three hundred yards from its 
margin. The noise in the swamp, still approach- 
ed us ; and at length a person came out of the 
thicket, and stood for a minute, or more, with the 
mulatto whom I had followed; and (hen ibcy both 
entered the swamp, and took the course of the pine 
trees, as I coukl easily distinguish by my ears. 

When they were gone, I advanced to the end of 
the road, and sat down upon a log, to listen to their 
progress, through the swamp. At length, it seemed 
that they had stopped, for I no longer heard any 
thing of them. Anxious, however, to ascertain more 
of this mysterious Inisiness, I remained in silence on 
the log, determined to stay there until day, if I could 
not sooner learn something to satisfy me, why these 
men had gone into the swamp. All uncertainty 
upon this subject was, however, quickly removed 
from my mind ; for within less than ten minutes, 
after I had ceased to hear them moving in the thick- 
et, 1 was shocked by tlie faint, but shrill wailings of 
a female voice, accompanied with exclamations, and 
supplications, in a tone so feeble, that I could only 
distinguish a few solitary words. 



236 NARRATIVE OP THE 

My mind comprehended the whole ground of thi* 
matter, at a glance. The lady supposed to have 
been murdered, on Sunday evening, was still living ; 
and concealed by the two fiends who had passed out 
of my sight, but a few minutes before. The one I 
knew, for I had examined his features, within a few 
feet of me, in the full light of the moon ; and, that 
the other was Hardy, I was as perfectly convinced, 
as if I had seen him also. 

I now rose to return home ; the cries of the fe- 
male in the swamp, still continuing ; but growing 
weaker, and dying away, as I receded from the place 
where I had sat. 

I was now in possession of the clearest evidence, 
of the guilt of the two murderers ; but I v\'as afraid 
to communicate my knowledge to my master, lest he 
should suspect me of being an accomplice in this 
crime ; and, if the lady could not be recovered ahve, 
I had no doubt, that Hardy and his companion, were 
sufficiently depraved, to charge me as a participator 
-with themselves, to be avenged upon me. I was 
confident that the nmlatto, David, would return to 
the house before day, and be found in his bed in the 
morning ; which he could easily do, for he slept in a 
part of the stable loft; under pretence of being near 
the liorses of his mistress. 

1 thought it possihle, that Hardy might also return 
home, that night, and endeavour to account for his 
absence from home on Monday afternoon, by some 
ingenious lie ; in the invention of which I knew 
him to be very expert. In this case, I saw that I 



xVDVENTURES OF CHARLES B.1LL. 237 

should have to run the risk, of being overpowered by 
the number of my false accusers ; and, as I stood 
alone, they might yet be able to sacrifice my life, 
and escape the punishment due to their crimes. 
-After much consideration, I came to the resolution 
of returning, as quick as possible, to the quarter — 
calling up the overseer— and acfjuainting him with 
all (lilt 1 had seen, hoard, and done, in tbe course of 
this night. 

As I did not kimw what time of niglit it was, 
when I left my bed, I was apprehensive that day 
might break before I could s<.) far mature my plans, 
as to have persons to way-lay, and arrest the mu- 
latto, on bis return home: but when I roused the 
overseer, he told me it was only one o'clock, and 
seemed but little inclined to credit my story ; but, 
after talking to me several miiiuies, lie told me he 
now, more than ever, suspected me to be the mur- 
derer,- but be would Mu uiili me, and see if 1 bad 
told the truib. When we arrived at the great house, 
some members of the family had not yet gone to 
bed, having been kept up by the arrival of several 
gentlemen, who had been searching the woods all 
day for the lost lady, and who had come here to 
seek lodgings, when it was near midnight. My 
master was in bed, but was called up and listened 
attentively to my story— at the close of which, he 
shook his head, and said with an oath, '-You 

J I believe you to be the murderer ; but 

we w^ill go and see if all you say is a lie ; if it is, the 
torments of will be pleasure to what awaits 



238 



narra-TiVe of the 



you. You have escaped once, but you will not get 
off a second time." I now found that somebody 
must die; and if the guilty could not be found, 
the innocent would have to atone for them. The 
manner in which my master had delivered his words, 
assured me, that the life of somebody must be taken. 
This new danger aroused my energies, — and I 
told them I was ready to go, and take the conse- 
quences. Accordingly, the overseer, my young 
master, and three other gentlemen, immediately set 
out with me. It was agreed tliat we should all 
travel on foot ; the overseer and I going a few 
paces in advance oi' the others. We proceeded 
silently, but rapidly, on our way ; and as we passed 
it. I shewed them the place where I sat under the 
holly bush, when the mulatto passed me. We nei- 
ther saw nor heard any person on the road, and 
reaclied the log at the end of the cart-road, whore 
I sat, when I heard the cries in the swamp. All 
was now quiet, and our party lay down in the bush- 
es, on each side of a large gum tree ; at the root of 
which the two murdere-s stood, when they talked 
together, before they entered the thicket. We had 
not been here more than an hour, when I heard, as 
I lay with my head near the ground, a noise in the 
swamp, which I believed couid only be made by 
those whom we sought. 

I, however, said nothing, and the gentlemen did 
not hear it. It was caused, as I afterwards ascer- 
tained, by dragging the fallen branch of a tree, along 
the ground, for the purpose of lighting the fire. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 239 

The night was very clear and serene -its silence 
only being broken at intervals, by the loud hooting 
of the great long-eared owls, which are numerous in 
these swamps. I felt oppressed by the cold, and was 
glad to hear the crowing of a cock, at a great dis- 
tance, announcing the approach of day. This was 
followed, after a short interval, by the cracking of 
sticks, and by other tokens, which I knew could pro- 
ceed only from the motions of living bodies. I now 
whi-pered to the overseer, who lay near mc, tliat it 
would soon appear whether I had spoken the truth 
or not. 

All were now satisfied that people were coming 
out of the swamp, for we heard tliem speak to each 
nthor. J desired (he overseer to advise the other 
gentlemen to let the rulpiiis come out of the swamp, 
and gain the hii^h gnnmd, before we attempted to 
eeize them ; but this counsel was, unfi)rtunately, not 
taken ; and when (bey came near to the gum-tree, 
and it could be clearly seen that there were two 
men, and no more, one of the gentlemen called out 
to them to stop, or they were dead. Instead, however, 
of stopping, they both sprang forward, and took to 
liight. They did not turn into the swamp^ for the 
gentleman who ordered them to stop, was in their 
rear— they having already passed him. At the 
moment they had started to run, each of the gentle- 
men fired two pistols at them. The pistols made 
the forest ring, on all sides ; and 1 supposed it was 
impossible for either of the fugitives to escape from 
so many balls. This was, however, not the case ; 



240 NARRATIVE OF THE 

for only one of them was injured. The mulatto, 
David, had one arm and one leg broken, and fell 
about ten yards from us ; but Hardy escaped, and 
when the smoke cleared away, he was nowhere to 
be seen. On being interrogated, David acknow- 
ledged that the lady was in the swamp, on a small 
island, and was yet alive— that he and Hardy had 
gone from the house on Sunday, for the purpose of 
waylaying and carrying her off; and intended to 
kill her little brother— this part of the duty being 
assigned to him, whilst Hardy was to drag the sister 
from her horse. As they were both mulattos, they 
blacked their faces with charcoal, taken from a pine 
stump, partially burned. The boy w^as riding before 
his sister, and when Hardy seized her and dragged 
her from her horse, she screamed and frightened 
both the horses, which took off at full speed, by 
which means the boy escaped. Finding that the 
boy was out of his reach, David remained in the 
bushes,' until Hardy brought the sister to him. 
They immediately tied a handkerchief round her 
face, so as to cover her mouth and stifle her shrieks ; 
and taking her in their arms, carried her back to- 
ward my master's house, for some distance, through 
the woods, until they came to the cart-road leading 
along the swamp. They then followed this road 
as far as it led, and, turning into the swamp, took 
their victim to a place they had prepared for her the 
Sunday before, on a small knoll in the swamp, 
where the ground was dry. 

Her hands were closely confined, and she was 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 241 

lied by the feet to a tree. He said he had stolen 
some bread, and taken it to her this night; but 
when they unbound her mouth to permit her to eat, 
she only wept and made a noise, begging them to 
release her, until they were obliged again to bandage 
her mouth. 

It was now determined by the gentlemen, that as 
the lady was Ftill alive, we ought not to lose a mo- 
ment in endeavouring to rescue her from her dread- 
fid situation. 1 |X)inted out the large pine trees, in 
the direction of which I heard the cries of the younn- 
lady, and near wiiich 1 believed she was — underta- 
king, at the same time, to act as pilot, in penetrating 
the thicket. Three of the gentlemen and mvself, 
accordingly set out, leaving the otiier two witli the 
wounded mulatto, with din'ctions to inform us when 
we d(!viated from a right line to the pine trees. 
This tliey were able to do by attending to the noise 
we made, wiili nearly as much accuracy as if they 
}iad peen us. 

The atmosphere had now become a little cloudy, 
and the morning was very dark, even in the oak 
wooils : but when we had entered the thickets of 
the swamp, all objects became utterly invisible ; 
and the ol)scurity was as total as if our eyes had 
been closed. Our companions on the dry ground, 
lost sight of the pine trees, and could not give us 
any directions in our journey. We became entangled 
in briers, and vines, and mats of Ijushes, from which 
the greatest exertions were necessary to disengage 
ourselves. 

21 



242 NARRATIVE OF THE 

It was SO dark, that we could not see the fallen 
trees ; and, missing these, fell into quagmires, and 
sloughs of mud and water, into which we sunk up 
to the arm-pits, and from which we were able to ex- 
tricate ourselves, only by seizing upon the hanging 
branches of the surrounding trees. After struggling 
in this half-drowned condition, for at least a quarter 
of an hour, we reached a small dry spot, where 
the gentlemen again held a council, as to ulterior 
measures. They called to those left on the shore, 
to know if we were proceeding toward th^ pine 
trees ; but received for answer that the pines were 
invisible, and they knew not whether we were right 
or wrong. In this state of uncertainty, it was thought 
most prudent to wait the coming of day, in our pre- 
sent resting place. 

The air was frosty, and in our wet clothes, load- 
ed as we were with mud, it may be imagined that 
our feelings were not pleasant ; and when the day 
broke, it brought us but httle relief, for we found, as 
soon as it was light enough to enable us to see 
around, that we were on one of those insulated 
dry spots, called " lussocks,^^ by the pepple of the 
south. These ttissocks are formed by clusters of 
small trees, which, taking root in the mud, are, in 
process of time, surroimded by long grass, which, 
entwining its roots with those of tlie tiees, overspread 
and cover the surface of the muddy foundation, by 
which the superstructure is supported. These ius- 
socks are often several yards in diameter. That 
upon which we now were, stood in the midst of a 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



243 



crreat miry pool, into which we were again obliged 
To launch ourselves, and struggle onward for a dis- 
tance of ten yards, before we reached the hue of some 
fallen and decaying trees. 

It was now broad daylight, and we saw the pmc 
trees, at the distance of about a liundred yards from 
us; 'but even wiili tlie assistance of the light, 
we had great dilliculty in reaching them,— to do 
^^ hich, we were compelled to travel at least a quar- 
ter of a mile by the amxl<^s and curves of -the fallen 
timber, upon which alone we could walk; this part 
of the swamp being a vast half-fluid hog. 

It was sunrise when we reached the pines, which 
we found standing upon a small islet of firm ground^ 
containing, as well as I could judge, about half an 
acre, covered with a heavy growth of white maples, 
swamp oaks, a few large pines, and a vast mat of 
swamp laurel, called in the south ivy. I had no 
doubt, that the object of our search was somewhere 
on this little island ; but small as it was, it was no 
trifling alfair to give every part of it a minute exami- 
nation, for the stems and branches of the ivy were 
so minut.'ly interwoven with each other, and spread 
along the ground in so many curves and crossings, 
that it was impossible to proceed a single rod, with- 
out lying down and creeping along the earth. 

The gentlemen agreed, that if any one discovered 
the young lady, he should immediately call to the 
others ; and we all entered the thicket. I, however, 
turned along the edge of the island, with the inten- 
tion of making its circuit, for the purpose of tracing, 
if possible, the footsteps of those who had passed be- 



244 NARRATIVE OF THE 

tween it and the main shore. I made my way more 
than half round the island, without much difficulty, 
and without discovering any signs of persons having 
been here before me ; but in crossing the trunk of a 
large tree which had fallen, and the top of which 
extended far into the ivy, I perceived some stains of 
mud, on the bark of the log. Looking into the 
swamp, I saw that the root of this tree was connected 
with other fallen timber, extending beyond the reach 
of my vision which was obstructed by the bramble 
of the swamp, and the numerous ever-greens, grow- 
ing here. I now advanced along the trunk of the tree, 
until I reached its topmost branches, and here discov- 
ered evident signs of a small trail, leading into the 
thicket of ivy. Creeping along, and following this trail, 
by the small bearberry bushes that had been tram- 
pled down, and had not again risen to an erect posi- 
tion, I was led almost across the island, and found 
that the small bushes were discomposed, quite up to 
the edge of a vast heap of the branches of ever-green 
treei, produced by the falhng ofseveral large juniper 
cypress trees, which grew in the swamp in a cluster, 
and, having been blown down, had fallen with their 
tops athwart each other, and upon the almost imper- 
vious mat of ivies, with which the surface of the 
island was coated over. 

I stood and looked at this mass of entangled 
green brush, but could not perceive the slightest 
marks of any entrance into its labyrinths ; nor did 
it seem possible for any creature, larger than a squir- 
rel, to penetrate it. It now for the first time struck 
me as a great oversight in the gentlemen, that they 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 245 

had not compelled the mulatto, David, to describe 
the place where they had concealed the lady ; and, 
as the forest was so dense, that no communication 
could he had with the shore, cither hy words or si^ns, 
we could not now procure any information on this 
subject. I therefore called to the s^entlemen, who 
were on the island with me, and desired them to 
come to me without delay. 

Suiall as this island was. it was after the lapse of 
many niimites. that the overseer, and the other gen- 
tlemen, arrived where I stood ; and when they came, 
they would have been the subjects of mirthful emo- 
tions, had not the tragic circumstances, in which I 
was placed, banished from my heart, every feeling 
but that of the most profound melancholy. 

When the gentlemen had assembled, 1 informed 
them of signs of footsteps, that I liad traced from the 
other side of the island ; and told them, that 1 be- 
lieved the young lady lay somewhere under the heap 
of brushwood, before us. This opinion obtained but 
little credit, because there was no opening in the 
brush, by which any one could enter it ; but on go- 
ing a few paces round the heap, I perceived a small, 
snaggy pole, resting on the brush, and nearly con- 
cealed by it. with the lower end stuck in the ground. 
The branches had been cut from this pole, at the 
distance of three or four inches from the main stem, 
which made it a tolerable substitute for a ladder. I 
immediately ascended the pole, which led me to the 
top of the pile ; and here I discovered an opening in 
the brush, between the forked top of one of the cy- 
21* 



246 NARRATIVE OF THE 

press trees, through which a man might easily pass. 
Applying my head to this aperture, I distinctly heard 
a quick, and laborious breathing, like that of a per- 
son in extreme illness ; and again called the gentle- 
men to follow me. 

When they came up the ladder, the breathing was 
audible to all ; and one of the gentlemen, whom I 
now perceived to be the stranger, who was with us 
in my master's cellar, when I was bled, slid down 
into the dark and narrow passage, without uttering 
a word. I confess, that some feelings of trepidation 
passed through my nerves, when I stood alone ; but 
now that a leader had preceded me, I followed, and 
glided through the smooth and elastic cypress tops, 
to the bottom of this vast labyrinth of green boughs. 

When I reached the ground, I found myself in 
contact with the gentleman, who was in advance of 
me, and near one end of a large concave, oblong, 
open space, formed by the branches of the trees, hav- 
ing been supported and kept above the ground, 
partly by a cluster of very large and strong ivies, 
that grew here, and partly by a young gum tree, 
which had been bent into the form of an arch, by 
the falling timber. 

Though we could not see into this leafy cavern 
from above, yet when we had been in it, a few mo- 
ments, we had light enough to see the objects around 
us, with tolerable clearness; but that which surpri- 
sed us both greatly, was, that the place w^as totally 
silent, and we could not perceive the appearance of 
any living thing, except ourselves. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 247 

After we had been here some minutes, our vision 
became still more distinct; and I saw, at the other 
end of the open space, ashes of w^ood, and some ex- 
tmguishcd brands, but tliere was no smoke. Going 
to these ashes, and stirring them with a stick, I 
foimd coals of fire carefully covered over, in a hole 
six or eii^ht inches deep. 

When he saw the fire, the gentleman spoke to me, 
and expressed his astonishment, that we heard the 
breathin'r no loui^rr; but he had scarcely uttered 
these words, when a faint groan, as of a woman in 
great pain, was heard to issue, apparently from the 
ground ; but a motion of branches on our right, as- 
sured me that the suiVerer was concealed there. 
The gentleman sprung to the spot, pushed aside the 
pendant boughs, stooped low beneath the bent ivies, 
and came out, bearing in his hands, a delicate fe- 
male figure. As he turned round, and exposed her 
half-closed eye and white forehead, to the light, he 
exclaimed, '• Eternal God, Maria, is it you 7 " He 
then pressed her to his bosom, and sunk upon the 
ground, still holding her closely in his embrace. 

The lady lay motionless in his arms, and I 
thought she was dead. Her hair hung matted and 
dishevelled from her head : a handkerchief, once 
white, but now soiled with dust, and stained with 
blood, was bound firmly round her head, covering 
her mouth and chin, and was fastened at the back 
of the neck, by a double knot, and secured by a liga- 
ture of cypress bark. 

I knew not whom most to pity, — the lady, who 



248 NARRATIVE OF THE 

now lay insensible, in the arms that still clasped her 
tenderly ; or the unhappy gentleman, who having 
cut the cords from her limbs, and the handkerchief 
from her face, now sat, and silently gazed upon her 
death-like countenance. He uttered not a sigh, and 
moved not a joint; but his breast heaved with 
agony ; the sinews, and muscles of his neck rose 
and fell, like those of a man in convulsions ; all the 
lineaments of his face were, alternately, contracted 
and expanded, as if his last moments were at hand : 
whilst great drops of sweat rolled down his forehead, 
as though he struggled against an enemy, whose 
strength was more than human. 

Oppressed by the sight of so much wretched- 
ness, I turned from its contemplation ; and called 
aloud to the gentlemen without, (who had all this 
time been waiting to hear from us,) to come up the 
ladder, to the top of the pile of boughs. The over- 
seer was quickly at the top of the opening, by which 
I had descended ; and I now informed him that we 
had found the lady. He ordered me to hand her 
up — and 1 desired the gentleman, who was with me, 
to permit me to do so; but this he refused — and 
mounting the boughs of the fallen trees, and support- 
ing himself by the strong branches of the ivies, he 
quickly reached the place, where the overseer stood. 

He even here refused to part from his charge, but 
bore her down the ladder alone. He was, however, 
obliged to accept aid, in conveying her through the 
swamp, to the place where we had left the two gen- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 249 

tlemen, with the wounded mulatto, wlior^e sutTerings, 
demon as he was. were sutTiciont to move the hard- 
est heart. His light arm, and left leg were hroken ; 
and he had lost much hlood, hefore we returned from 
the island ; and as he could not walk, it was neces- 
sary to carry him home. We had not brought any 
horses ; and until the lady was recovered, no one 
seemed to think any more about the nuilatto, after 
he was shot down. 

It was proposed to send for a horse, to take David 
home ; but it was finally agreed, that we should 
leave him in the woods, where he was, until a man 
could be sent for him, with a cart. At the time we 
left him, his groans and lamentations seemed to ex- 
cite no sympathy, in the breast of any. ^lore cruel 
sufferings yet awaited him. 

The lady was carried home, in the arms of the 
gentlemen ; and she did not speak, until after she 
was bathed, and put to bed in my master's house, as 
I afterwards heard. 1 know she did not speak on 
the way. She died on the fourth day after her res- 
cue ; and before her death, related the circumstan- 
ces of her misfortune, as I was tuld by a coloured 
woman, who attended her in her illness, in the fol- 
lowing manner: 

As she was ridmg in the dusk of the evening, at 
a rapid trot, a few yards behind her brother, a black 
man sprang from behind a tree standing close by 
the side of the road ; seized her by her riding dress, 
and dragged her to the ground, but failed to catch 
the bridle of the horse, which sprang off at full speed. 



250 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Another negro immediately came to the aid of the 
first, and said, '• I could not catch him — we mast 
make haste." They carried her as fast as they could 
go, to the place where we found her; when they 
bound her hands, feet, and mouth, and left her until 
the next night ; and had left her the second morn- 
ing, only a few minutes, when she heard the report 
of guns. Soon after this, by great efforts, she ex- 
tricated one of her feet from the bark, with wliich 
she was bound ; hid finding herself too weak to 
stand, she crawled, as far as she could, under the 
boughs of the trees, hoping that when her assassins 
returned again, they would not be able to find her ; 
and that she might there die alone. 

Exhausted by the efforts she had made, to remove 
herself, she fell into the stupor of sleep, from which 
she was aroused by the noise we made, when we 
descended into the cavern. She then, supposing us 
to be her destroyers returned again, lay still, and 
breathed as softly as possible, to prevent us from 
hearing her ; but when she heard the voice of the 
gentleman who was with me, the tones of which 
were familiar to her, she groaned, and moved her 
feet, to let us know where she was. This exertion, 
and the idea of her horrid condition, overcame the 
strength of her nerves ; and when her deliverer 
raised her from the ground, she had swooned, and 
was unconscious of all things. 

We had no sooner arrived at the house, than in- 
quiry was made for Hardy ; but it was ascertained 
in the kitchen, that he had not been seen, since the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. )i51 

previous evoninir. at niirhl fall, when he had left the 
kitchen for the |mr|)ose of guini^ to sleep at the sUible, 
with David, as he had told one of the hlack women ; 
and prejiaration was immediately made, to go in pur- 
suit of iiim. 

For this purpse all the gentlemen present 0(|uip- 
ped themselves with pistols, fowling pieces, and 
Ijjjrns — such as are used hy fox hunters. IVIessen- 
i^crs were despatched round the country, to give no- 
tice to all the planters, within the distance of many 
miles, of the crime that had been conunitted, and of 
the escape of one of its perj^etrators, with a request to 
them to come without delay, and join in the pursuit, 
intruded to be given. Those who had dogs, trained 
to chase thieves, were desired to bring them ; and a 
gentleman wlio livi'd twelve miles off. and who own- 
ed a hl(XMl liouiid. was sent for, and re(|ucst(Ml to come 
with his dog, in all haste. 

Ill consetjuence, I suppose, of the information I 
had ij:iven, 1 was permitted to Ik- present at these de- 
lib<'rations ; and though my advice was not asked, 
I was often interrogated, concerning my knowledge 
of the alVair. Some proposed to go at once, with 
dogs and horses, into the woods, and traverse the 
swamp and thickets, fur the purpose of rousing Har- 
dy from the place of concealment, he might have 
chosen; but the opinion of the overseer prevailed, 
who thought, that from the intimate knowledge pos- 
sessed by him, of all the swamps and coverts in the 
neis^hbourhood, there would be little hope of discov- 
ering him in this manner. The overseer advised 



^252 NARRATIVE OF THE 

them, to wait the coming of the gentleman with his 
blood hound, before they entered the woods ; for the 
reason, that if the blood hound could be made to take 
the trail, he would certainly find his game, before he 
quit it, if not thrown off the scent by the men, horses, 
and dogs crossing his course ; but if the blood hound 
could not take the scent, they might then adopt the 
proposed plan of pursuit, with as much success as at 
present. This counsel being adopted, the horses 
were ordered into the stable ; and the gentlemen en- 
tered the house to take their breakfast, and wait the 
arrival of the blood hound. 

Nothing was said of the mulatto, David, who 
seemed to be forgotten — not a word being spoken by 
any one of bringing him from the woods. I knew 
that he was suffering the most agonizing pains, and 
great as were his crimes, his groans and cries of an- 
guish still seemed to echo in my ears ; but I was 
afraid to make any apphcation in his behalf, lest, 
even yet, I might be suspected of some participation 
in his offences ; for I knew that the most horrid 
punishments were often inflicted upon slaves, merely 
on suspicion. 

As the morning advanced, the number of men 
and horses in front of my master's mansion in- 
creased ; and before ten o'clock, I think there were, 
at least, fifty of each^ — the horses standing hitched 
and the men conversing in groups without, or as- 
sembled together within the house. 

At length the owner of the blood hound came, 
bringing with him his dog, in a chaise, drawn by 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 253 

one horse. The harness was removed from the 
horse, its place supplied by a saddle and bridle, and 
the whole party set off for the woods. As they rode 
away, my master, who was one of the company, 
told me to follow them ; but we had proceeded only 
a little distance, when the gentlemen stopped, and 
my master, after speaking with the owner of the 
dog, told the overseer to go back to the liouse, and 
get some piece of the clothes of Hardy, that had 
been worn by him lately. The overseer returned, 
and we all proceeded forward to the place where 
David lay. 

We found him where we had left him, greatly 
weakened by the loss of blood, and complaining 
that the cold air caused his wounds to smart intoler- 
ably. When I came near him, he looked at me and 
told me I had betrayed him. None of the gentle- 
men seemed at all moved by his sufferings, and 
when any of them spoke to him, it was with deri- 
sion, and every epithet of scorn and contumely. As 
it was apparent that he could not escape, no one 
proposed to remove him to a place of greater safety J 
but several of the horsemen, as they passed, lashed 
him with the thongs of their whips ; but I do not 
believe he felt these blows — the pain he endured from 
his wounds being so great, as to drown the sensation 
of such minor afflictions. 

The day had already become warm, although the 
night had been cold ; the sun shone with great clear- 
ness, and many carrion crows, attracted by the scent 
22 



254 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of blood, were perched upon the trees near where we 
now were. 

When the overseer came up with us, he brought 
an old blanket, in which Hardy had slept for some 
time, and handed it to the owner of the dog : who, 
having first caused the hound to smell of the blan- 
ket, untied the cord in which he had been led, and 
turned him into the woods. The dog went from 
us fifty or sixty yards, in a right hne, then made a 
circle around us. again commenced his circular 
movement, and pursued it nearly half round. Then 
he dropped his nose to the ground, snuffed the taint- 
ed surface, and moved off through the woods, slowly, 
almost touching the earth with his nose. The 
owner of the dog, and twelve or fifteen others fol- 
lowed him, whilst the residue of the party dispersed 
themselves along the edge of the swamp ; and the 
overseer ordered me to stay, and watch the horses of 
those who dismounted, going himself on foot in the 
pursuit. 

When the gentlemen were all gone out of sight, I 
went to David, who lay all this time within my view, 
for the purpose of asking him if I could render him 
any assistance. He begged me to bring him some 
water, as he was dying of thirst, no less than with 
the pain of his wounds. One of the horsemen had 
left a large tin horn, hanging on his saddle : this I 
took, and stopping the small end closely with leaves, 
filled it with water from the swamp, and gave it to 
the wounded man, who drank it, and then turning 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 255 

his head towards me, said — " Hardy and I had laid 
a plan to have this thing- broui^^ht upon you, and to 
have you hung for it — but you have escaped." He 
then asked me if they intended to leave him to die 
in the woods, or to take him home and hang him. 
I told him I had heard them talk of taking him 
liome in a cart, Itut what was to be done with him I 
did not know. I felt a horror of the crimes com- 
mitted by this man ; was pained by the sight of his 
suHl-ring-', and being unable to relieve the one, or to 
forgive the other, went to a place where I could nei- 
ther see nor liear him, and sat down to await the 
return of those who had gone in pursuit of Hardy. 

In the circumsLances which surrounded me, it 
cannot be supposed that my feelings were pleasant, 
or that time moved very fleetly ; but painful as my 
situation was, I was obliged to bear it for many 
hours. From (he time the gentlemen left me, I nei- 
ther saw nor heard them, until late in the afternoon, 
when five or six of them returned, having lost their 
companions in the woods. 

Toward sundown, I heard a great noise of horns 
blown, and of men shouting at a distance in the 
forest ; and soon after, my master, the owner of the 
blood hound, and many others returned, bringing 
with them. Hardy, whom the hound had followed 
ten or twelve miles, through the swamps and thick- 
ets ; had at last caught him, and would soon have 
killed him, had he not been compelled to relinquish 
his prey. When the party had all returned, a kind 
of court was held in the woods, where we then were, 



256 NARRATIVE OF THE 

for the purpose of determining what punishment 
should be inflicted upon Hardy and David. All 
agreed at once, that an example of the most ter- 
rific character ought to be made of such atrocious 
villains, and that it would defeat the ends of justice 
to deliver these fellows up to the civil authority, to 
be hanged hke common murderera. The next mea- 
sure was, to settle upon the kind of punishment to 
be inflicted upon them, and the manner of executing 
the sentence. 

Hardy was, all this time, sitting on the ground, 
covered with blood, and yet bleeding profusely, in 
hearing of his inexorable judges. The dog had 
mangled both his arnis. and hands, in a shocking 
manner ; torn a large piece of flesh entirely away 
from one side of his breast, and sunk his fangs deep 
in the side of his neck. No other human creature 
that I have ever seen, presented a more deplorable 
spectacle of mingled crime and cruelty. 

It was now growing late, and the fate of these 
miserable men was to be decided before the company 
separated to go to their several home?. One pro- 
posed to burn them, another to flay them alive, and 
a third to starve them to death, and many otker 
modes of slowly and tormentingly extinguishing 
hfe, were named ; but that which was finally adopt- 
ed, was, of all others, the most horrible. The 
wretches were unanimously sentenced to be strip- 
ped naked, and bound down securely upon their 
backs, on the naked earth, in sight of each other ; 
^0 have their mouths closely covered with bazidages, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 257 

to prevent them from making a noise to frighten 
away the birds, and in this manner to be left, to be 
devoured aHve by the carrion crows and buzzards, 
which swarm in every part of South CaroUna. 

The sentence was instantly carried into effect, so 
far as its execution depended on us. Hardy, and his 
companion, were divested of their clothes, stretched 
upon their backs on the ground ; their mouths 
bandaged with handkerchiefs — their limbs extend- 
ed — and these, toijether witii their necks, being 
crossed liy numerous poles, were kept close to the 
earth l»y forked sticks driven into the ground, so as 
to prevent the possibility of moving any part of their 
persons ; and in this maimer these wicked men 
were left to be torn in pieces, by birds of prey. The 
buzzards, and carrion crows, always attack dead 
bodies by pulling out and consuming the eyes first. 
They then tear open the bowels, and feed upon the 
intestines. 

We returned to my master's plantation, and I did 
not see this place again until the next Sunday, 
when several of my fellow-slaves went with me to 
see the remains of the dead, but we found only 
their bones. Great flocks of buzzards, and carrion 
crows, were assembled in the trees, giving a dismal 
aspect to the woods ; and I hastened to aban- 
don a place, fraught with so many afflicting recol- 
lections. 

The lady, who had been the innocent sacrifice of 
the brutality of the men, whose bones I had seen 
bleaching in the sun, had died on Saturday evening, 
22* 



258 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and her corpse was buried on Monday, in a grave- 
yard on my master's plantation. I have never seen 
a large cotton plantation, in Carolina, without its 
burying ground. This burying ground is not only 
the place of sepulture of the family, who are the pro- 
prietors of the estate, but also of many other persons, 
who have lived in the neighbourhood. Half an 
acre, or an acre of ground, is appropriated as a 
grave-3^ard, on one side of which the proprietors of 
the estate, from age to age, are buried ; whilst the 
other parts of the ground are open to strangers, 
poor people of their vicinity, and, in general, to all 
who choose to inter their dead within its boundaries. 
This custom prevails as far north as Maryland ; 
and it seems to me to be much more consonant to 
the feelings of solitude and tender recollections, which 
we always associate with the memory of departed 
friends, than the practice of promiscuous interment 
in a church-yard, where all idea of seclusion is 
banished, by the last home of the dead being thrown 
open to the rude intrusions of strangers ; where the 
sanctity of the sepulchre is treated as a common, and 
where the grave itself is, in a few years, torn up, or 
covered over, to form a temporary resting place for 
some new tenant. 

The family of the deceased lady, though not very 
wealthy, was amongst the most ancient and respec- 
table in this part of the country ; and, on Sunday, 
whilst the dead body lay in my master's house, there 
was a continual influx and efflux of visiters, in car- 
riages, on horse-back, and on foot. The house was 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 259 

open to all who chose to come ; and the best wines, 
cakes, sweet-meats and fruits, were handed about to 
the company, by the servants ; though I observed 
that none remained for dinner, except the relations 
of the deceased, tliose of my master's family, and the 
young gentleman who was with me on the island. 
The visitery remained but a short time when they 
came, and were nearly ail in mourning. This was 
the first time that I had seen a large number of the 
fashionable people of Carolina assembled together, 
and their appearance impressed me with an opinion 
favourable to their character. I had never seen an 
equal number of people anywhere, whose deport- 
ment was more orderly and decorous, nor whose 
feelings seemed to be more in accordance with the 
solemnity of the event, which liad brought tliem 
together. 

I liad been ordered l)y the overseer, to remain at 
the great house until the afternoon, for the purpose, 
as I afterwards learned, of ijeing seen by those who 
came to see the corpse ; and many of the ladies 
and gentlemen incjuired for me, and when I was 
pointed out to them, commended my conduct and 
fidelity, in discovering the authors of the murder — 
condoled with me for having suffered innocently, 
and several gave me money. One old lady, who 
came in a pretty carriage, drawn by two black horses, 
gave me a dollar. 

On Monday, the funeral took place, and several 
hundred persons followed the corpse to the grave, 
over which a minister delivered a short sermon. The 



260 NARRATIVE OF THE 

young gentleman who was with me when we found 
the deceased on! the island, walked with her mother 
to the grave-yard, and the little brother followed, 
with a younger sister. 

After the interment, wines and refreshments were 
handed round to the whole assembly, and, at least 
a hundred persons remained for dinner, with my 
master's family. At four o'clock in the afternoon, 
the carriages and horses were ordered to the door of 
the court-yard of the house, and the company 
retired. At sundown, the plantation was as quiet 
as if its peace had never been disturbed. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

I have before observed, that the negroes of the cot- 
ton plantations are exceedingly superstitious; and 
they are indeed, prone, beyond all other people that I 
have ever known, to believe in ghosts, and the exist- 
ence of an infinite number of supernatural agents. 
No story of a miraculous character, can be too absurd 
to obtain credit with them ; and a narrative is not 
the less eagerly listened to, nor the more cautiously 
received, because it is impossible in its circumstan- 
ces. Within a few weeks after the deaths of the 
two malefactors, to whose horrible crimes were 
awarded equally horrible punishments, the forest 
that had been the scene of these bloody deeds, was 
reported, and beheved to be visited at night by beings 
of unearthly make, whose groans, and death-strug- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 261 

gles, were heard in the darkest recesses of the woods, 
amidst the flapping of the wings of vultures, the 
fluttering of carrion crows, and the dismal croaking 
of ravens. In the midst of this nocturnal din, the 
noise caused hy the tearing of the flesh from the 
bones, was heard, and the panting breath of the 
agonized suflferer, quivering under the beaks of his 
tormentors, as they consumed his vitals, floated au- 
dibly upon the evening breeze. 

The murdered lady was also seen walking by 
moonliiTJit, near the spot where she had been drag- 
ged from her horse, wrapped in a blond-stained 
mantle ; overhung with gory and dishevelled locks. 
The little island in the swamp, was said to present 
spactacles too horrible for human eyes to look upon, 
and sounds were heard to issue from it, which no 
human ear could bear. Terrific and ghastly fires 
were seen to burst up, at midnight, amongst the 
ever-greens (hat clad this lonely spot, emitting scents 
too sullbcating and sickly to be endured; whilst 
demoniac yells, shouts of despair and groans of ago- 
ny, mingled their echos in the solitude of the woods. 
AVliilst I remained in this neighbourhood, no 
coloured person ever travelled this road, alone, after 
night-fall ; and many white men would have ridden 
ten miles round the country, to avoid the passage of 
the ridge road, after dark. Generations must pass 
away, before the tradition of this place w411 be forgot- 
ten ; and many a year will open and close, before 
the last face will be pale, or the last heart beat, as 



262 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the twilight traveller, skirts the borders of the Mur- 
derers' Swamp. 

We had allowances of meat distributed to all the 
people twice this fall — once when we had finished 
the saving of the fodder, and again soon after the 
murder of the young lady. The first time we had 
beef, such as I had driven from the woods when I 
went to the alligator pond ; but now we had two 
hogs given to us, which weighed, one a hundred and 
thirty, and the other a hundred and fifty-six pounds. 
This was very good pork, and I received a pound 
and a quarter as my share of it. This was the first 
pork that I had tasted in Carolina, and it afforded a 
real feast. We had, in our family, full seven pounds 
of good fat meat ; and as we now had plenty of 
sweet potatoes, both in our gardens and in our weekly 
allowance, we had on the Sunday following the 
funeral, as good a dinner of stew^ed pork and potatoes , 
as could have been found in all Carolina. We did 
not eat all our meat on Sunday, but kept part of it 
until Tuesday, when we warmed it in a pot, with an 
addition of parsley and other herbs, and had another 
very comfortable meal. 

1 had, by this time, become in some measure, ac- 
quainted with the country, and began to lay and 
execute plans to procure supplies of such things as 
were not allowed me by my master. I understood 
various methods of entrapping rackoons, and other 
wild animals that abounded in the large swamps of 
this country; and besides the skins, which were 
worth something for their furs, I generally procured 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 263 

as many rackoons, opossums, and rabbits, as afTorded 
us two or three meals in a week. The woman with 
whom I Uved, understood the way of dressing an 
opossum, and I was careful to provide one for our 
Sunday dinner every week, so long as these animals 
continued fat and in good condition. 

All the people on the plantation did not live as 
well as our family did, for many of the men did not 
understand trapping game, and others were too in- 
dolent to go far enough from home to find good places 
for setting their traps. My princi[)al trapping ground 
was three miles from home, and I went three times 
a week, always after night, to bring home my game, 
and keep my traps in good order. Many of the 
families in the quarter caught no game, and had no 
meat, except that which we received from the over- 
seer, which averaged about six or seven meals in the 
year. 

Lydia, the woman whom I have mentioned liere- 
tofore, was one of the women whose husbands pro- 
cured little or nothing for the sustenance of their 
families, and I often gave her a quarter of a rackoon 
or a small opossum, for which she appeared very 
thankful. Her health was not good — she had a bad 
cough, and often told me, she was feverish and rest- 
less at night. It appeared clear to me that this 
woman's constitution was broken by hardships, and 
sufferings, and that she could not live long in her 
present mode of existence. Her husband, a native 
of a country far in the interior of Africa, said he had 
been a priest in his own nation, and had never been 



264 NARRATIVE OF THE 

taught to do any kind of labour, being supported by 
the contributions of the public ; and he now main- 
tained, as far as he could, the same kind of lazy dig- 
nity, that lie had enjoyed at home. He was compelled 
by the overseer to work, with the other hands, in the 
field, but as soon as he had come into his cabin, he 
took his seat, and refused to give his wife the least 
assistance in doing any thing. She was conse- 
quently obliged to do the little work that it was ne- 
cessary to perform in the cabin ; and also to bear all 
the labour of weeding and cultivating the family 
patch or garden. The husband was a morose, sul- 
len man, and said, he formerly had ten wives in his 
own country, who all had to work for, and wait upon 
him ; and he thought himself badly off here, in hav- 
ing but one woman to do any thing for him. This 
man was very irritable, and often beat and otherwise 
maltreated his wife, on the slightest provocation, and 
the overseer refused to protect her, on the ground, 
that he never interfered in the family quarrels of the 
black people. I pitied this woman greatly, but as it 
was not in m}^ power to remove her from the pres- 
ence and authority of her husband, I thought it pru- 
dent not to say nor do any thing to provoke him fur- 
ther against her. As the winter approached, and 
the autumnal rains set in, she was frequently expo- 
sed in the field, and was wet for several hours to- 
gether : this, joined to the want of warm and com- 
fortable woollen clothes, caused her to contract colds, 
and hoarseness, which increased the severity of her 
cough. A few days before Christmas, her child died, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 265 

after an illness of only three clays. I assisted her 
and her husband to inter the infant — which was a 
little boy — and its father buried with it, a small bow 
and several arrows ; a little bag of parched meal ; a 
miniature canoe, about a foot long, and a little pad- 
dle, (with which he said it would cross the ocean to 
his own country) a small stick, with an iron nail, 
sharpened, and fastened into one end of it ; and a 
piece of white muslin, with several curious and 
strange figures painted on it in blue and red, by 
which, he said, his relations and countrymen would 
know the infant to be his son, and would receive it 
accordingly, on its arrival amongst them. 

Cruel as this man was to his wife, I could not but 
respect the sentiments which inspired his affection for 
his child ; though it was the affection of a barbarian. 
He cut a lock of hair from his head, threw it upon 
the dead infant, and closed the grave with his own 
hands. He then told us the God of his country was 
looking at him, and was pleased with what he had 
done. Thus ended the funeral service. 

As we returned home, Lydia told me she was re- 
joiced that her child was dead, and out of a world in 
which slavery and wretchedness must have been its 
only portion. I am now, said she, ready to follow 
my child, and the sooner I go, the better for me. 
She went with us to the field until the month of 
January, when, as we were returning from our work, 
one stormy and wet evening, she told me she should 
never pick any more cotton — that her strength was 
gone, and she could work no more. When we as- 
23 



266 NARRATIVE OF THE 

sembled, at the blowing of the horn, on the following 
morning, Lydia did not appear. The overseer, w4io 
had always appeared to dislike this woman, when 
he missed her, swore very angrily, and said he sup- 
posed she was pretending to be sick, but if she was? 
he would soon cure her. He then stepped into his 
house and took some copperas from a little bag, and 
mixed it with water. I followed him to Lydia's ca- 
bin, where he compelled her to drink this solution of 
copperas. It caused her to vomit violently, and 
made her exceedingly sick. I think to this day, 
that this act of the overseer, was the most inhuman 
of all those that I liave seen perpetrated upon de- 
fenceless slaves. 

Lydia was removed that same day to the sick 
room, in a state of extreme debility and exhaustion. 
When she left this room again she wis a corpse. 
Her disease was a consumption of the lungs, which 
terminated her life early in March. I assisted in 
carrying her to the grave, which I closed upon her, 
and covered with green turf. She sleeps by the side 
of her infant, in a corner of the negro grave-yard, of 
this plantation. Death was to her a welcome mes- 
senger, who came to remove her from toil that she 
could not support, and from misery that she could 
not sustain. 

Her life had been a morning of pleasure, but a 
day of bitterness, upon w^iich no sunlight had fallen. 
Had she known no other mode of existence than 
that which she saw on this plantation, her lot would 
have been happiness itself, in comparison with her 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 267 

actual destiny. Trained up as she had been in 
Maryland, no greater cruelty could have been devi- 
sed by the malice of her most cunning enemy, than 
to transfer her from the service, and almost com- 
panionship, of an indulgent and airectionate mis- 
tre?s, to the condition in which I saw her, and knew 
'»<•'• '■'» 111'' cotton Holds of South Carolina. 

In .Marylan.l. it is a custom as widely extended as 
the state iLself, I believe, to give the slaves a week 
of holidays, at Christmas ; and the master, who 
should alien.pt to violate this usage, would become 
an object of derision amongst his neighbours. But 
I learjied. long before ( hristmas, that the force of 
custom was not so binding here, as it is farther north. 
In .Alaryland, Christmas comes at a season of leisiue 
when the work of the farm, or the tobacco i)lantation' 
IS generally closed for the year ; and, if a good sup- 
ply of iirewood has been pnnided, there seenjs to be 
but little for the peoj)le to do, and a week lost to the 
master, is a matter of little moment, at a period when 
the days are short and cold ; but in the cotton coun- 
try, the case is very dillerent. 

Christmas comes in the very midst of cotton pick- 
ing. The richest and best part of the crop has been 
secured before this period, it is true ; but large quan- 
tities of cotton still remain in the field, and every 
pound that can be saved from the winds, or the 
plough of the next spring, is a gain of its value, to 
the owner of the estate. 

For these reasons, which are very powerful on the 
side of the master, there is but little Christmas on a 



268 NARRATIVE OF THE 

large cotton plantation. In lieu of the week of holi- 
day, which formerly prevailed even in Carolina, be- 
fore cotton was cultivated as a crop, the master now 
gives the people a dinner of meat, on Christmas-day, 
and distributes amongst them their annual allowance 
of winter clothes, on estates where such an allow- 
ance is made ; and where it is not, some small gra- 
tuity supplies its place. 

There are cotton planters who give no clothes to 
their slaves, but expect them to supply themselves 
with apparel, out of the proceeds of their Sunday la- 
bour and nightly earnings. Clothes of a certain 
quality were given to the people of the estate on 
which I lived, at the time of wliich I now speak ; 
but they were not at all sufficient to keep us warm 
and comfortable in the winter ; and the residue, we 
had to procure for ourselves. In Georgia, I lived 
three years with one master, and the best master, 
too, that I ever had in the soutb, who never gave me 
any clothes during that period, except an old great 
coat, and a pair of boots. — I shall have occasion to 
speak of him hereafter. 

As Christmas of the year 1805. approached, we 
were all big w^ith hope of obtaining three or four 
days, at least, if not a Aveek of holiday ; but when 
the day at length arrived, we were sorely disappoint- 
ed, for on Christmas eve, when we had come from 
the field, with our cotton, the overseer fell into a fu- 
rious passion, and swore at us all for our laziness, 
and many other bad qualities. He then told us that 
he had intended to give us three days, if we had 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 269 

worked well, but that we had been so idle, and had 
left so much cotton yet to be picked in the field, that 
he found it impossible to give us more than one day ; 
but that he would go to the house, and endeavour 
to procure a meat dinner for us, and a dram in the 
morning. Accordingly, on the next morning, we 
received a dram of peach brandy, for each person ; 
and two hogs, weighing together more than three 
hundred, were slau •.'filtered and divided amongst us, 

I went to the field and picked cotton all day, for 
which I was paid by the overseer, and at night I had 
a good dinner of stewed pork and sweet potatoes. — 
Such were the beginning and end of my first Christ- 
mas, on a cotton plantation We went to work as 
n-ual tli(^ next inorniii'/, and continued our labour 
throuixh the we«.'k. as if (.'hristmas had been stricken 
from the cilendor. I had already saved and laid by 
a liitio more than ten dollars in monev, but pait of 
it had been given to me at tlie funeral. I was now 
much in want of clothes, none having been given 
me since I came here. I had, at the commence- 
ment of the cold weather, cut up my old blanket, 
and, with the aid of Lydia. who was a very good 
seamstress, converted it into a pair of trousers, and a 
long roundabout jacket ; but this deprived me of my 
bed, which was imperfectly supplied by mats, which 
I made of rushes. The mats were very comfortable 
things to lie upon, but they were by no means equal 
to blankets for covering. 

A report had been current amongst us, for some 
time, that there would be a distribution of clothes, to. 
23* 



270 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the people, at new-year's-day ; but how much, or 
what kind of clothes we were to get, no one pretend- 
ed to know, except that we were to get shoes, in con- 
formity to a long-established rule of this plantation. 
From Christmas to new-year, appeared a long week 
to me, and I have no doubt that it appeared yet 
longer to some of my fellow-slaves, most of whom 
were entirely barefoot. I had made mockasins for 
myself, of the skins of squirrels, that I had caught in 
my traps, and by this means protected my feet from 
the frost, which was sometimes very heavy and 
sharp, in the morning. 

On the first day of January, when we met at the 
blowing of the morning horn, the overseer told us, 
we must all proceed to the great house, where we 
were to receive our winter clothes; and surely, no 
order was ever more willingly obeyed. When we 
arrived at the house, our master was up, and we 
were all called into the great court yard in front of 
the dwelling. The overseer now told us, that shoes 
would be given to all those wlio were able to go to 
the field, to pick cotton. This deprived of shoes, the 
children, and several old persons, whose eye-sight 
was not sufficiently clear, to enable them to pick 
cotton. A new blanket was then given to every one 
above seven years of age — children under seven, 
received no blanket, being left to be provided for by 
their parents. Children of this age, and vmder, go 
entirely naked, in the day-time, and sleep with their 
mothers at night, or are wrapped up together, in 
such bedding as the mother may possess. Children 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 271 

under seven years of age are of little use in picking 
cotton, and it is not supposed that their labour can 
repay the expense of clothing them in a manner to 
lit them to go to the field — they are, therefore, suller- 
ed to remain in the house or quarter, without clothes, 
from October to April. In summer they do not re- 
quire clothes, and can |)crform such w ork as they are 
able to do. as well without garments as with them. 
At the time we received our shoes, and l)lankets, 
tlierc was not a good shirt in our quarter — but all 
the men, and women, had provided themselves with 
some sort of woollen clothes, out of their own sa- 
vings. Woollen stuir, for a petticoat and sliort- 
gown, had also been given, before Christmas, to 
each of the women who were mothers of small chil- 
dren, or in such a condition as to render it certain, 
that tliey must, in a short time, become so. iMany 
of the women could pick as much cotton as a man ; 
and any good hand could earn sixty cents, l»y pick- 
ing cotton on Simday — the overseer paying us punc- 
tually for all the cotton we Ijrought in, on Sunday 
evening. Besides this, a good hand could always, 
in a fme day. pick more cotton than was required to 
be brought home, as a day's work. I could not pick 
as much in a day, as some of the others, by four or 
five pounds ; but I could generally carry home as 
much beyond the day's work, or task, as it is called, 
as entided me to receive from five to ten cents every 
evening, from the overseer. This money was punc- 
tually paid to me every Saturday night ; and in 
some weeks I cleared, in this way, as high as fifty 



272 NARRATIVE OF THE 

cents, over and above what I earned on Sunday. 
One of the men cleared to himself, including his 
Sunday work, two dollars a week, for several weeks ; 
and his savings, on this entire crop of cotton, were 
thirty-one dollars — but he was a first-rate cotton 
picker, and worked late and early. One of the 
women cleared twenty- six dollars to herself, in the 
same way. We were expected to clothe ourselves 
with these, and our other extra earnings ; but some 
of the people performed no more work, through the 
week, than their regular task, and would not work 
constantly on Sunday. Such were not able to pro- 
vide tliemselves with good clothes; and many of 
them suffered greatly from the cold, in the course of 
the winter. When the weather was mild and pleas- 
ant, some of the children, who were not required to 
go to the field, to do a day's work, would go out, in 
the warmest part of the day, and pick a few pounds 
of cotton, for which their parents received pay, and 
were obliged, in return, to find the children in bed- 
ding for the winter. 

A man can plant and cultivate more cotton plants, 
than he is afterwards able to pick the wool from, if 
the season is good, and no disaster befalls the crop. 
Here every eflfort is made, from the commencement 
of the picking season until its close, to procure as 
much work as possible from the hands ; and, spite 
of all that can be done, much cotton is lost— the peo- 
pie not being able to pick it all from the stalks, be- 
fore the field is ploughed up to prepare the ground 
for the reception of the seeds of a new crop. In such 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 273 

cases, every pound that the hands can be induced to 
pick, beyond their daily task, ia a clear gain to the 
master ; and slaves often leave the fields of their 
masters, where the cotton is nearly all gathered, and 
the picking is poor, to go to the field of some neigh- 
bouring planter, where the cotton is more abundant, 
to work on Sunday. It is a matter of indiflerence 
to the slave, whether his master gets his cotton all 
picked or not ; his oi)ject is to get employment in a 
field where he can make the best wages. In such 
cases, the masters often direct the overseers to oiler 
their own slaves one half as much as the cotton is 
worth, for each pound they will pick on Sunday — 
and this^ for the purpose of preventing them from 
going to some other field, to work on that day. 

I'he usual price only, is paid for extra cotton, pick- 
ed on working days ; for afier a hand has picked 
his task, he would not have time to go anywhere 
else to work ; nor indeed, would he be per nutted to 
leave his plantation. The slave is a kind of free- 
man on Sunday all over the southern country; and 
it is in truth, by the exercise of his liberty on this 
day, that he is enabled to provide himself and his 
family, with many of the necessaries of life that his 
master refuses to supply him with. 

It is altogether impossible, to make a person resi- 
ding in any of the middle or northern states of the 
Union, and who has never been in the south, 
throughly acquainted with all the minute particulars 
of the life of a slave on a cotton plantation ; or to 
give him an idea of the system of parsimonious econ- 



274 NARRATIVE OP THE 

omy, that the slave is obliged to exercise and main- 
tain in his Uttle household. Poor as the slave is, and 
dependant at all times upon the arbitrary will of his 
master, or yet more fickle caprice of the overseer, his 
children look up to him in his httle cabin, as their 
protector and supporter. There is always in every 
cabin, except in times of scarcity, after there has been 
a failure of the corn crop, a sufficient supply of either 
corn bread or sweet potatoes ; and either of these, is 
sufficient to give health and vigour to children, who 
are not required to do any work ; but a person who 
is grown up, and is obliged to labour hard, finds ei- 
ther bread or potatoes, or even both together, quite 
inadequate to sustain the body in the full and pow- 
erful tone of muscular action, that more generous 
food would bestow. A mother will imagine the 
painful feelings experienced by a parent, in the ca- 
bin of a slave, when a small portion of animal food 
is procured, dressed and made ready for the table. 
The father and mother know, that it is not only 
food, but medicine to them, and their appetites keen- 
ly court the precious morsel ; whilst the children, 
whose senses are all acute, seem to be indued with 
taste and smell in a tenfold degree, and manifest a 
ravenous craving for fresh meat, which it is painful 
to witness, without being able to gratify it. 

During the whole of this fall and winter, we usu- 
ally had something to roast, at least twice a week, in 
our cabin. These roasts were rackoons, opossums, 
and other game — the proceeds of my trapping. All 
the time the meat was hanging at the fire, as well as 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 275 

while it was on the talVie. our liouse was surrounded 
by the children of our fellow-slaves ; some begging 
for a piece, and all expressing, by their eager coun- 
tenances, the keen desire they felt to partake with us 
of our dainties. It was idle to think of sharing with 
them, the contents of our board ; for they were often 
thirty or forty in number; and the largest rackoon 
would scarcely have made a mouthful for each of 
them. There was one little l)0y, four years old, a 
very fine little fellow, to whom 1 had become warmly 
attached ; and who used to share with me in all the 
good things I possossed. He was of the same age 
wiih mv own lililc son, wlioiii I had Ji-ft in Mary- 
land : and tiiorc w.'is notliinir that I possessed in the 
world, that I would not have divided with him, even 
to my last crust. 

It may well be supposed, that in our society, al- 
though we were all slaves, and all nominally in a 
condition of the most perfect equality, yet there was 
in fact a very great dilVerence in the manner of liv- 
ing, in the several families. Indeed, I doubt, if 
there is as great a diversity in the modes of life, in the 
several families of any white village in New- York, 
or Pennsylvania, containing a |X)pulation of three 
hundred persons, as there was in the several house- 
holds of our quarter. This may be illustrated by 
the following circumstance : Before I came to reside 
in the family with whom 1 lived at tliis time, they 
seldom tasted animal food, or even fish, except on 
meat-days, as they were called : that is, when meat 
was given to the people by the overseer, under the 



276 NARRATIVE OF THE 

orders of our master. The head of the family was 
a very quiet; worthy man ; but slothful and inactive 
in his habits. When he had come from the field at 
night, he seldom thought of leaving the cabin again 
before morning. He would, and did, make baskets 
and mats, and earned some money by these means : 
he also did his regular day's work on Sunday ; but 
all his acquirements were not sufficient to enable 
him to provide an}' kind of meat for his family. All 
that his wife and children could do, was to provide 
him with work at his baskets and mats ; and they 
hved even then better than some of their neighbours. 
After 1 came among them and had acquired some 
knowledge of the surrounding country, I made as 
many baskets and mats as he did ; and took time 
to go twice a week to look at all my traps. 

As the w^inter passed away and spring approached, 
the proceeds of my hunting began to diminish. The 
game became scarce, and both rackoons and opos- 
sums grew poor and worthless. It was necessary 
for me to discover some new mode of improving the 
allowance allotted to me by the overseer. I had all 
my life been accustomed to fishing, in Maryland, 
and 1 now resolved to resort to the water for a living ; 
the land having failed to furnish me a comfortable 
subsistence. With these views, I set out one Sun. 
day morning, early in February, and went to ihe 
river at a d stance of three miles from home. From 
the appearance of the stream, I tdt confident that it 
must contain many fish ; and I went immediately 
to work to make a weir. With the help of an axe 



I 



ADVKXTURrCS OF CHARLES BALL. 277 

that I iiad with nie, I had finished, hefore night., the 
frame work of a weir of pine sticks, lashed together 
with white oak spHts. I had no canoe, hut made a 
raft of dry logs, upon which I went to a suitable 
place in the river, and set my weir. I afterwards 
made a small net of twine, that I bought at tiie 
store ; and on next Thursday night I took as many 
fish from my weir as filled a half bushel measure. 
This was a real treasure — it was the most fortunate 
circumstance that had bappriKMl with nie since I 
came to the country. 

I wa.s enabl<'d to show my generosity : but. like 
all mankin I, evt.Mi in my libnality, I kept myself in 
mind. I gave a large lish to the overseer, and (oi)k 
tluc.^ more to the ijreat house. These were the 
first iVc-li li-b that bad itccii in I be (hmilv (his sea- 
son ; and 1 was nuich praised by niy master and 
young mistr(-'sses, f )r my skill and success in fish- 
ing: but ibi- was all (be advantage 1 received horn 
this ellort to court the favuiu' of the great: — I did 
not even get a dram. The part I had performed 
in the detection of the murderers of the young lady 
was forgotten ; or, at least, not mentioned now. 1 
went away from the house, not only disappointed, 
Imt chagrined, and thought with myself that if my 
master and young mistresses had nothing but words 
to give me for my fish, we should not carry on a very 
large traffic. 

On next Sunday morning, a black boy came 
from the house, and told me that our master wish- 
ed to see me. This summons was not to be diso- 
24 



278 NARRATIVE OF THE 

beyed. When I relumed to the mansion, I went 
round to the kitchen, and sent word by one of the 
house-slaves, that I had come. The servant re- 
turned and told me, that I was to stay in the kitchen 
and get my breakfast ; and after that, to come into 
the house. A very good breakfast was sent to me 
from my master's table, after the family had finished 
their morning meal ; and when I had done w4th 
my repast, 1 went into the parlour. 1 was received 
with great affability by my master, who told me he 
had sent for me to know if I had been accustomed 
to fish in the place I had come from. I informed 
him, that I had been employed at a fishery on the 
Patuxent, every spring, for several years ; and that 
I thought I understood fishing with a seine, as well 
as most people. He then asked me, if I could knit 
a seine ; to which 1 replied in the aflftrmative. After 
some other questions, he told me, that as the picking 
of cotton was nearly over for this season, and the 
fields must soon be ploughed up for a new crop, he 
had a thought of having a seine made ; and of 
placing me at the head of a fishing party, for the 
purpose of trying to take a supply of fish for his 
hands. No communication could have been more 
unexpected than this was, and it was almost as 
pleasing to me as it was unexpected by me. I now 
began to hope that there would be some respite from 
the labours of the cotton field, and that I should not 
be doomed to drag out a dull and monotonous exis- 
tence, within the confines of the enclosures of the 
plantation. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 279 

In Maryland, the fishing season was ahvays one 
of hard labour, it is true ; but also a time of joy and 
hilarity. We then had, throughout the time of fish- 
ing, plenty of bread, and, at least, bacon enough to 
fry our fish with. We had also a daily allowance 
of whiskey, or brandy, and we always considered 
ourselves fortunate when we left the farm to go to 
the fishery. 

A few days after thi-, T was again sent for by my 
master, who told me, tliat lie had bought twine 
and ropes for a seine ; and that I must set to work 
and knit it as quickly as possible; that as he did 
not wish the twine to be taken to the quarter, I 
must remain with the servants in the kitchen, and 
live with them whilst employed in constructing the 
seine. I was assisted in making the seine by a 
black boy. whom I had taught to work with me ; 
and by the end of two weeks we had finished our 
Job. 

While at work on this seine, I lived rather better 
than I had formerly done, when residing at the quar- 
ter. We received amongst us — twelve in number, 
including the people who worked in the garden — the 
refuse of oiu- master's table. In this way w^e pro- 
cured a little cold meat every day ; and when there 
were many strangers visiting the family, we some- 
times procured considerable quantities of cold and 
broken meats. 

My new employment aflforded me a better oppor- 
tunity, than I had hitherto possessed, of making cor- 
rect observations upon the domestic economy of my 



280 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



master's household, and of learning the habits and 
modes of life of the persons who composed it. On 
a great cotton plantation, such as this of my mas- 
ter's, the field hands, who live in the quarter, are 
removed so far from the domestic circle of their mas- 
ter's fanjily, by their servile condition and the nature 
of their employment, that they know but little more 
of the transactions within the walls of the o-reat 
house, than if they lived ten miles off. Many a slave 
has been born, lived to old age, and died on a plan- 
tation, without ever liaving been within the walls of 
his master's domicil. 

My master was a widower ; and his house was 
in charge of his sister, a maiden lady, apparently of 
fifty-five or sixty. He had six children, three sons 
and three daughters, and all unmairied ; but only 
one of the sons was at home, at the time I came 
upon tlie estate ; the other two were in some of the 
northern cities: the one studying medicine, and 
the other at college. At the time of knitting the 
twme, these young gentlemen had returned, on a 
visit, to their relations, and all the brothers and 
sisters were now on the place. The 3^oung ladies 
were all grown up, and marriageable ; their father 
was known to be a man of great wealth ; and the 
girls were reputed very pretty in Carolina ; one of 
them, the second of the three, was esteemed a great 
beauty. 

The reader might deem my young mistress" pretty 
face and graceful person, altogether impertinent to 
the narrative of my own life; but they had a most 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 281 

material inJhicnce upon my fortunes, and changed 
the whole ten(jr of my existence. Had she been less 
l)eautifuK or of a temper less romantic and adventur- 
ous, I should still have been a slave in South C'aroli- 
na, if yet alive, and the world would have been 
saved the labour of perusing these pages. 

Any one at all acquainted with southern man- 
n<nii, will at once sec that my master's house pos- 
sesseil attractions which would not fail to draw 
within it numerous visiters : and that the head of 
such a family as dwelt under its ro(^f was not likely 
to be without friends. 

I had not been at worlc ujion iIk; seine a week [be- 
fore I discovered, by listeninLr to the conversation of 
my master, and the other JMcmbns of the family, 
that ihcy prided thcnHeJves not a little, ujion the 
anticjuity of tliejr lioiise, and \\ui long [)racticc of a 
generous hospitality to .strangers, and to all res|)ccta- 
ble people, who chose to visit their homestead. All 
circumstances .seemed to conspire to render this house 
one of the chief seats of the fashion, the beauty, the 
wit, and the gallantry of South Carolina. Scarcely 
an evening came but it brought a carriage, and ladies 
and gentlemen, and their .servants; and every day 
brought dashing your.g planters, mounted on horse- 
back, to dine with the family ; but Sunday was the 
day of the w^eek on which the house received the 
greatest accession of company. My master and 
family w^ere members of the Episcopal Church, and 
attended service every Sunday, when the weather 
was fine, at a church eight miles distant. Each pf 
24* 



282 NARRATIVE OF THE 

my young masters and mistresses had a saddle- 
horse, and in pleasant weather, ihey frequently all 
went to church on horsehack, leaving my old mas- 
ter and mistress to occupy the family carriage alone. 
I have seen fifteen or twenty young people come to 
my master's for dinner, on Sunday from church ; 
and very often the parson, a young man of hand- 
some appearance, was amongst them. 1 had ob- 
served these things long before, but now I had come 
to live at the house, and became more familiar with 
them. Three Sundays intervened while I was at 
work upon the seine, and on each of these Sundays 
more than twenty persons, besides the family, dined 
at my master's. During these three weeks, my 
young masters were absent far the greater part of 
the time ; but I observed that they generally came 
home on Sunday for dinner. My young misstresses 
were not from home much, and I believe they never 
left the plantation unless eillier their father or some 
one of their brothers was with them. Dinner parties 
were frequent in my masters house ; and on these 
occasions of festivity, a black man, who belonged to 
a neighbouring estate, and who played the violin, 
was sent for. I observed that whenever this man 
was sent for, he came, and sometimes even came 
before nigiit. which appeared a little singular to me, 
as I knew the difficulty that coloured people had to 
encounter in leaving the estate to which they were 
attached. 1 felt curious to ascertain how it happen- 
ed, that Peter (that was the name of the fiddler,) en. 
joyed such privileges and contrived to become ac- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 283 

quainted with him. when he came to get his supper 
in the kitchen. He inroimed me tliat his master was 
always ready to let him go to a ball ; and would per- 
mit him to leave the cotton field at any time for that 
purpose, and even lend him a horse to ride. I 
afterwards learned from thi- man, that his master 
compelled him in give him half the money that he 
leceivedas gratuities from the gendemen for whom 
he played at the dinner parties ; hut as iiis master 
had enjuint'd liim. nndtr priin of being whipped, not 
to divuJLrr^ this circumstance, I never bclrayed the 
poor f<'ll(jw's coiifKlcnce. Peter's master was a 
planter, who owm-d iliiiiy slaves, and Jiis children 
(several of wliom were young ladies and gentlemen) 
moved in highly respectaljle circles of society ; but 
I believe my master's laniily iHd not treat them as 
qiiite their equals; not so nmch on account of their 
inferiority in poiiit of wealth, as because they were 
new in the country, having only been settled here but 
a few years, and the master of Peter having, when 
a young man, acted as overseer on a rice plantation 
near Charleston. 



CHAPTER XV. 

I have, though always in a very humble station 
in hfe, travelled more, and seen more of the people 
in the United States, than some who occupy elevat- 
ed ranks, and claim for themselves a knowledge of 
the world far greater than 1 pretend to possess ; but 



284 



NARRATIVE OP THE 



a man's knowledge is to be valued, not by that 
which he has iniagmed, but by that which expe- 
rience has taught him ; and in estimating his abihty 
to give information to others, we are to judge him, 
not by what he says he would wish men and the 
world to be, but by what he has seen, and by the 
just inferences he draws from those actions, tliat he 
has witnessed in the various conditions of human 
society, that have passed in review before him. In 
this book I do not pretend to discuss systems, or ad- 
vance theories. I am content to give facts as I saw 
them. 

In the northern and middle states, so far as I have 
known them, very little respect is paid to family pre- 
tensions ; and this disregard of ancestry seems to 
me to be the necessary ofTspriiig of the condition of 
things. In the states of New-York and Pennsyl- 
vania, there are so many ways by which men may 
and do arrive at distinction, and so many, and sucli 
various means of acquiring wealth., that ail claim of 
superiority on account of the possession of any par- 
ticular kind of property, is prohibited by public 
opinion. A great landholder is counterbalanced by 
a great manufacturer, and perhaps surpassed by a 
great merchant, whilst a successful and skilful me- 
chanic is the rival of all these. Family distinction 
can obtain no place amongst these men. In the 
plantation states, the case is widely different. There, 
lands and slaves constitute the only property of the 
country that is worthy of being taken into an esti- 
mate of public wealth. Cattle and horses, hogs, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 285 

sheep and mules exist, but in numbers so few, and 
of (|ualities so inferior, that tlie portion of them, pos- 
secfsed by any individual planter, would compose an 
aggregate value of sufficient magnitude only to raise 
hiui barely beyond the liner- that divide poverty from 
mediocrity of condition. 

The mechanic is a sort of journeyman to the 
planters, and works about the country as he may 
chance to find a job, in building a house, erecting a 
cotton-gin, or constructingr a horse-mill, if he is a 
carpenter or miil-wri-jiit : il" he i< a tailor, he seeks 
employment from house to house, never reniaiuing 
longer in one |)lace than to allow himself time to do 
the work of the fimily. The mechanic holds a 
kind of half-way rank between the gentleman and 
the slave. He is not, and never can be, a gentle- 
man, for the reason that he does, and nuist do his 
own work. Hence mechanics and arlizans of every 
description avoid the southern country ; or, if found 
there, they are only sojourners. Tlie country they 
are in i> not their home : they are there from neces- 
sity, or with a hope of acquiring money to estal)lish 
themselves in business, in places where their occupa- 
tions are held more in lionour. ?»Ianufacturers are 
not in existence in the cotton country, therefore no 
comparison can be instituted between them and the 
planters. 

I believe, from what I saw, that all the commerce 
of the cotton country is in the hands of strangers, 
and that a large portion of these strangers are 
foreigners. The planters deal with them from ne^ 



286 NARRATIVE OF THE 

cessity, as they must have such things as they need, 
and must obtain them somewhere, and from some- 
body. The store-keeper hves as well, dresses as 
well, and often lives in as good a house as the plant- 
er — perhaps in one that is better than that of the 
planter ; but his wealth is not so material, his means 
of subsistence do not strike the eye so powerfully as 
a hundred field hands, and three hundred acres of 
cotton. The country has no hold on him, and he 
has no hold on the country. His habits of life arc 
not similar to those of his neighbours— he is not 
''one of us." 

All the families who visited at my master's were 
those of planters ; aiul the families of the cotton 
planters have nothing to do but visit, or read, liunt, 
or fish, or run into some vicious amusements, or sit 
down and do nothing. Every kind of labour is as 
strictly prohibited to the sons and daughters of the 
planters, by universal custom, as if a law of the land 
made it punishable by fine and imprisonment, and 
gave one-half of the fine to a common informer. 
The only line that divides the gentleman from the 
simple man, is that the latter works for his living, 
whilst the former has slaves to work for him. No 
man who works with his hands, can or will be re- 
ceived into the highest orders of society, on a footing 
of equaUty, nor can he hope to see his family treated 
better than himself. This unhappy fiat of public 
opinion has done infinite mischief in the south. 

Men of fortune will not work, nor permit their 
sons to work in the field, because this exemption from 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 287 

labour is their badge oi' gentility, and the circum- 
fitance that distinguishes them from the less favour- 
ed members of the community. As the wealthy, the 
great, and the fashionable, are never seen at labour 
and as it is known that they hold it to be beneath 
the rank of a gentleman to work in the field, those 
who arc more sparingly endowed with the advanta- 
:e.s of fortune. inii)ibe an opinion that it is disgraco 
ul to plough, or to dig, and that it is necessary to 
load a lUc of idleness, to maintain their raale in 
society. 

No man works in South Carolina, except under 
the impulse of necessity- In this state of things, 
many men ol limited fortunes rear up families of 
ciiildren without education, and without the means 
of supporting an expensive style of living. The 
-ons, when grown up, of necessity, commingle with 
the other young people of the country, and bring 
with them into the aHairs of the world, nothing 
upon which they can pride themselves, except that 
they are white men, and are not obliged to work for 
a living. 

'^rhis false pride has infected the whole mass of the 
white population ; and the young man, whose father 
ha^ half a dozen children, and an equal number of 
slaves, looks with affected disdain upon the son of 
his father's neighbour, who owns no slaves, because 
the son of the non-slaveholder must work for his 
bread, whilst the son of the master of half a dozen 
negroes, contrives to support himself in a sort of lazy 
poverty, only one remove from actual penury. 



288 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Every man who is able to procure a sii}3sistencej 
without labour, regards himself a gentleman, from 
this circumstance alone, if he has nothing else to 
sustain his pretensions. These poor gentlemen, 
are the worst members of society, and the least pro- 
ductive of benefit, either to themselves or their coun- 
try. They are prone to horse-racing, cock-fighting, 
gambling, and all sorts of vices common to the coun- 
try. Having no livelihood, and being engaged in 
no pursuit, they hope to distinguish themselves by 
running to excess in what they call fashionable 
amusements, or sporting exercises. These people 
are universally detested by the slaves, and are in- 
deed far more tyrannical than the great slave-holders 
themselves, or any other portion of the white popu- 
lation, the overseers excepted. 

A man who is master of only four or five slaves, 
is generally the most ready of all to apprehend a 
blaclv man, whom he may happen to catch stiaying 
from his plantation ; and generally whips him the 
most unmercifully for this offence. The law gives 
him the same authority to arrest the person of a slave, 
seen travelling without his pass, that it vests in the 
owner of five hundred negroes ; and the experience 
of all ages, that petty tyrants are the most oppres- 
sive, seems fully verified in the cotton country. 

A person who has not been in the slave-holding 
states, can never fully understand the bonds that 
hold society together there, or appreciate the rules 
which prescribe the boundaries of the pretensions of 
the several orders of men who compose the body po- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 289 

litic of those communities ; and after all that I have 
written, and all that I shall write,'in this book, the 
reader who has never resided south of the Potomac, 
will never be able to perceive things precisely as they 
present themselves to my vision, or to comprehend 
the spirit that prevails in a country, where the popu- 
lation is divided into three separate classes. Those 
will fall into great error, who shall imagine that in 
Carolina and Georgia there are but two orders of 
men ; and that the artificial distinctions of society 
have only classified the people into white and black, 
freemen and slaves. It is true, that the distinctions 
of colour are the most obvious, and present them- 
selves more readily than any others to the inspection 
of a stranger ; but he who will take time to exam- 
ine into the fundamental organization of societ}", in 
the cotton planting region, will easily discover that 
there is a third order of men located there, little 
known to the world, but who, nevertheless, hold a 
separate station, occupying a place of their own, and 
who do not come into direct contrast with either the 
master or the slave. 

The white man, who has no property, no posses- 
sion, and no education, is, in Carolina, in a condition 
no better than that to which the slave has been re- 
duced ; except only that he is master of his own 
person, and of his own time, and may, if he chooses, 
emigrate and transfer himself to a country where he 
can better his circumstances, whilst the slave is 
bound, by invisible chains, to the plantation on 
which his master may think proper to place him. 
25 



290 NARRATIVE OP THE 

In my opinion, there is no order of men in any 
part of the United States, with which I have any 
acquaintance, who are in a more debased and hu- 
miUated state of moral servitude, than are those 
white people who inhabit that part of the southern 
country, where the landed property is all, or nearly 
all, held by the great planters. Many of these 
white people live in wretched cabins, not half so good 
as the houses which judicious planters provide for 
their slaves. Some of these cabins of the white 
men are made of mere sticks, or small poles notched, 
or rather thatched together, and filled in with mud, 
mixed with the leaves, or shats. as they are termed, 
of the pine tree. Some fix their residence far in the 
pine forest, and gain a scanty subsistence by notch- 
ing the trees and gathering the turpentine ; others 
are seated upon some poor, and worthless point of 
land, near the margin of a river, or creek, and draw 
a precarious livelihood from the water, and the bad- 
ly cultivated garden that surrounds, or adjoins the 
dwelling. 

These people do not occupy the place held in the 
north by the respectable and useful class of day 
labourers, who constitute so considerable a portion of 
the numerical population of the country. 

In the south, these white cottagers are never em- 
ployed to work on the plantations for wages. Two 
things forbid this. The white man, however poor 
and necessitous he may be, is too proud to go to 
work in the same field with the negro slaves by his 
side ; and the owner of the slaves is not willing to 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 291 

permit white men, of the lowest order, to come 
amongst them, lest the morals of the negroes should 
he corrupted, and illicit traffic should be carried on, 
to the detriment of the master. 

The slaves generally believe, that however miser- 
able they may be, in their servile station, it is never- 
theless preferable to the degraded existence of these 
poor white people. This sentiment is cherished by 
the slaves, and encouraged by their masters, who 
fancy that they subserve their own interests in pro- 
moling an opinion amongst the negroes, that they 
are better off in the world than are many white 
persons, who are free, and have to submit to the 
burthen of taking care of, and providing for them- 
selves. 

I never could learn nor understand how, or by 
what means, these poor*cottagers came to be settled 
in Carolina. They are a separate and distinct race 
of men from the planters, and appear to have nothing 
in common with them. If it were possible for any 
people to occupy a grade in human society below 
that of the slaves, on the cotton plantations, cer- 
tainly the station would be filled by these white 
families, who cannot be said to possess any thing in 
the shape of property. The contempt in which 
they are held, and the contumely with which they 
are treated, by the great planters, to be comprehend- 
ed, must be seen. 

These observations are applicable in their fullest 
extent, only to the lower parts of Georgia and Caro- 
lina, and to country places. In the upper country, 



292 NARRATIVE OF THE 

where slaves are not so numerous, and where less 
of cotton and more of grain is cultivated, there is 
not so great a difference between the white man, 
who holds slaves and a plantation, and another 
white man who has neither slaves nor plantation. 
In the towns, also, more especially in Charleston 
and Savannah, where the number of white men 
who have no slaves is very great, they are able, from 
their very numbers, to constitute a moral force suffi- 
ciently powerful to give them some degree of weight 
in the community. 

I shall now return to my narrative. Early in 
Marc I], or perhaps on one of the last days of Februa- 
ry, my seine being now completed, my master told 
me I must take with me three other black men, and 
go to the river to clear out a fishery. This task of 
clearing out a fishery, was a very disagreeable job ; 
for it was nothing less than dragging out of the 
river, all the old trees and brush that had sunk to 
the bottom, within the limits of our intended fishing 
ground. My master's eldest son had been down the 
river, and had purchased two boats, to be used at 
the fishery ; but when I saw them I declared them 
to be totally unfit for the purpose. They were old 
batteaux, and so leaky, that they would not have 
supported the weight of a wet seine, and the men ne- 
cessary to lay it out. I advised the building of two 
good canoes, from some of the large yellow pines, in 
the woods. My advice w^as accepted, and together 
with five other hands, I went to work at the canoes, 
which we completed in less than a week. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 293 

So far things went pretty well, and I flattered 
myself that I should become the head man at this 
new fishery, and have the command of the other 
hands. I also expected that I should be able to 
gain some advantage to myself, by disposing of a 
part of the small fish that might be taken at the 
fishery. I reckoned without my liost. 

My master had only purchased this place a short 
time before he bought me. Before that time he did 
not own any place on the river, fit for the establish- 
ment of a fishery. His lands adjoined the river for 
more than a mile in extent, along its margin ; but 
an impassable morass separated the channel of the 
river, from the firm ground, all along his fines. He 
had cleared the highest parts of this morass, or 
swamp, and had here made his rice fields ; but he 
was as entirely cut oiT from the river, as if an ocean 
had separated it from liin). 

On the day that wo I lunched the canoes into the 
river, and while we were engaged in removing some 
snags, and old trees that had stuck in the mud, near 
the shore, an ill-looking stranger came to us, and 
told us that our master had sent liim to take charge 
of the fishery, and superintend all the work that 
was to be done at it. This man, by his contract 
with my master, was to receive a part of all the fish 
caught, in lieu of wages ; and was invested with 
the same authority over us that was exercised by 
the overseer in the cotton field. 

I soon found that I had cause to regret my removal 
from the plantation. It was found quite impossible 
25* . 



294 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



to remove the old logs, and other rubbish from the 
bottom of the river, without going into the water, 
and wrenching them from their places with long 
hand-spikes. In performing this w ork we were obli- 
ged to wade up to our shoulders, and often to dip our 
very heads under water, in raising the sunken tim- 
ber. However, within less than a week, we had 
cleared the ground, and now began to haul our seine. 
At first, we caught nothing but common river fish ; 
but after two or three days, we began to take shad. 
Of the common fish, such as pike, perch, suckers, 
and others, we had the liberty of keeping as many 
as we could eat ; but the misfortune was, that we 
had no pork, or fat of any kind, to fiy them with ; 
and for several days we contented ourselves with 
broiling them on the coals, and eating them with our 
corn bread, and sweet potatoes. We could have 
lived well, if we had been permitted to broil the shad 
on the coals, and eat them ; for a fat shad wnW diess 
itself in being broiled, and is very good, without any 
oily substance added to it. 

All the shad that we caught, were carefully taken 
away by a black man, who came three times every 
day to the fishery, with a cart. 

The master of the fishery had a family that lived 
several miles up the river. In the summer time, he 
fished with hooks, and small nets, when not engaged 
in running turpentine, in the pine woods. In the 
winter he went back into the pine forest, and made 
tar of the dead pine trees ; but returned to the river 
at the opening of the spring, to take advantage of 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 295 

tlie shad fishery. He was supposed to be one of the 
most skilful fishermen on the Congaree river, and 
my master employed liim to superintend liis new 
fishery, under an expectation, I presume, that as he 
was to get a tenth part of all the fish that might be 
cau^j-ht, he would make the most of his situation. 
My master had not calculated with accuracy the 
force of habit, nor the dilliculfy which men expe- 
rience, in conduct in£^ very simple allairs, of which 
they have no practical knowledge. 

The fish-master did very well for the interest of 
his employer, for a few days ; compelling us to work, 
in hauling the seine, night and day, and scarcely 
permitting us to take rest enough to obtain necessary 
sleep. We were compelled to work full sixteen hours 
every day, including Sunday ; for in the fishing 
season, no resjiect is paid to Sunday by fishermen, 
anywhere. We had our usual quantity of bread 
and potatoes, with [plenty of conmion fish ; but no 
shad came to our lot ; nor had we any thing to fry 
our fish with. A broiled fresh-water fish is not very 
good, at best, without salt or oil ; and after we had 
eaten them every day, for a week, we cared very 
little for them. 

By this time, our fish-master began to relax in his 
discipline ; not that be became more kind to us, or 
required us to do less work ; but to compel us to 
work all night, it was necessary for him to sit up all 
night and watch us. This was a degree of toil and 
privation to which he could not long submit ; and 
one evening soon after dark, he called me to him and 



296 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



told me, that he intended to make me overseer of the 
fishery that night ; and he had no doubt, I would 
keep the hands at work, and attend to the business 
as well without him as with him. He then went 
into his cabin, and went to bed ; whilst I went and 
laid out the seine, and made a very good haul. We 
took more than two hundred shad at this draught; 
and followed up our work with great industry all 
night, only taking time to eat our accustomed meal 
at midnight. 

Every fisherman knows that the night is the best 
time for taking shad ; and the little rest that had 
been allowed us, since we began to fish, had always 
been from eight o'clock in the morning, until four in 
the afternoon ; unless Within that period there was 
an appearance of a school of fish in the river : when 
we had to rise, and lay out the seine, no matter at 
what hour of the day. The fish-master had been 
very severe with the hands, since he came amongst 
us ; and had jnade very free use of a long hickory 
gad that he sometimes carried about with him ; 
though at times he would relax his austerity, and 
talk quite familiarly with us : especially with me, 
whom he perceived to have some knowledge of the 
business in which we were engaged. The truth 
was, that tfiis man knew nothing of fishing with a 
seine, and I had been obliged from the beginning to 
direct the operations of laying out and drawing in 
the seine ; though the master was always very loud 
and boisterous in giving his commands, and direct-. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



291 



ing us ill what part of the river we should let down 
the seine. 

Having never been accustomed to regular work, 
or to the pursuit of any constant course of personal 
application, the master was incapable of long contin- 
ued exertion ; and I feel certain, that he could not 
have been prevailed upon to labour twelve hours 
each day, for a year, if in return he had been cer- 
tain of receiving ten thousand dollars. Notwith- 
standing this, he was capable of rousing himself, and 
of undergoing any degree of fatigue or privation, for 
a short time ; even for a few days. He had not 
been trained to habits of industry, and could not bear 
the restraints of uniform labour. 

We worked hard all night, the first night of my 
superintendence, and when the sun rose the next 
morning, the master had not risen from his bed. As 
it was now the usual time of dividing the fish, I call- 
ed to him to come and see this business fairly done ; 
but as he did not come down immediately to the 
landing, 1 proceeded to make the division myself, in 
as equitable a manner as I could : giving, however, 
a full share of large fish to the master. When he 
came down to us, and overlooked both the piles of 
fish— his own and that of my master— he was so 
well satisfied with what T had done, that he said, if 
he had known that 1 would do so well for him, he 
would not have risen. I was glad to hear this, as 
it led me to hope, that I should be able to induce 
him to stay in his cabin during the greater part of 



298 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



the time ; to do which. I was well assured, he felt 
disposed. 

When the night came, the master again told me 
he should go to bed. not being well ; and desired me 
to do as I had done the night before. This night 
we cooked as many shad as we could all eat : but 
were careful to carry, far out into the river, the scales 
and entrails of the stolen fish. In the morning I 
made a division of the fi^h before I called the mas- 
ter, and then went and asked him to come and see 
what I had done. He was again well pleased, and 
novr proposed to us all. that if we would not let the 
affair be known to our master, he would leave us to 
manage the fishery at night according to our discre- 
tion. To this proposal we all readily agreed, and I 
received authority to keep the other hands at work. 
untU the maister would go and get his breakfast. I 
had now accomplished the object that I had held 
very near my heait. ever since we began to fish at 
this place. 

From this time, to the end of the fishing season, 
we all lived well, and did not perform more work 
than we were able to bear. I was in no fear of ])€- 
ing punished by the fish-master ; for he was now at 
least as much in my power, as I was in his ; for if 
my mauster had known tbe agreement, that he had 
made with us. for the purpose of enabUng himself to 
sleep all flight in his cabin, he would have been de- 
prived of his situation, and all the profits of his share 
of the fishery. 

There never can be any aflinity of feeling between 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL, 299 

master and slave, except in some few isolated cases, 
where the master has treated his slave in such a 
manner, as to have excited in him strong feelings of 
gratitude ; or where the slave entertains apprehen- 
sions, that by the death of his master, or by being 
separated from him in any other way, he may fall 
under the power of a more tyrannical ruler, or may 
in some sha|)e be worsted by the change. I was 
never acquainted with a slave who believed, that he 
violated any rule of morality by appropriating to 
himself any thing that belonged to his master, if it was 
necessary to his comfort. The master might call it 
theft, and brand it with the name of crime ; but the 
slave reasoned dillerently, when he took a portion 
of his master's goods, to satisfy his hunger, keep 
himseh' warm, or to gratify his passion for luxurious 
enjoyment. 

The slave sees his master residing in a spacious 
mansion, riding in a fine carriage, and dressed in 
costly clothes, and attributes the possession of all 
these enjoyments to his own labour ; whilst he who 
is the cause of so much gratification and pleasure to 
another, is himself deprived of even the necessary 
accommodations of human life. Ignorant men do 
not and cannot reason logically ; and in tracing 
things from cause to eflfect. the slave attributes all 
that he sees in possession of his master, to his own 
toil, without taking the trouble to examine, how far 
the skill, judgment, and economy of his master may 
have contributed to the accumulation of the wealth 
by which his residence is surrounded. There is, in 



300 NARRATIVE OF THE 

fact, a mutual dependence between the master and 
his slave. The former could not acquire any thing 
without the labour of the latter, and the latter would 
always remain in poverty, without the judgment of 
the former in directing labour to a definite and profit- 
able result. 

After I had obtained the virtual command of the 
jfiisheiy, I was careful to awaken the master every 
morning at sunrise, that he might be present when 
the division of the fish was made ; and when the 
morning cart arrived, that the carter might not re- 
port to my master, that tlie fish-master was in bed. 
1 had now become interested in preserving the good 
opinion of my master in favour of his agent. 

Since my arrival in Carolina I liad never enjoyed 
a full meal of bacon ; and now determined, if possi- 
ble, to procure such a supply of that luxury, as 
would enable me and all my fellow-slaves at the 
fishery to regale ourselves at pleasure. At this sea- 
son of the year, boats frequently passed up the river, 
laden with merchandise and goods of various kinds, 
amongst which were generally large quantities of 
salt, intended for curing fish, and for other purposes on 
the plantations. These boats also carried bacon and 
salted pork up the river, for sale ; but as they never 
moved at night, confining their navigation to day- 
lio-ht, and as none of them had hitherto stopped near 
our landing, we had not met with an opportunity of 
entering into a traffic with any of the boat masters. 
We were not always to be so unfortunate. One 
evening, in the second week of the fishing season, a 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 301 

large keel-boat was seen working up the river about 
sundown ; and shortly after, came to for the night, 
on the opposite side of the river, directly against our 
landing. We had at the fishery a small canoe call- 
ed a punt, about twelve feet long ; and whei> we 
went to lay out the seine, for the fir^t haul after 
night, I attached the punt to the side of the canoe, 
and when we had finished letting down the seine, I 
left llic otlier hands to work it toward the shore, and 
ran over in the punt to the keel-boat. Upon inc^ui- 
ring of the captain if he had any bacon that he 
would exchange for shad, he said, ho had a little ; 
but, as the risk he would run in dealing with a slave 
was great, I must expect to pay him more than the 
usual price. He at length proposed to give me a 
hundred pounds of bacon for three hundred shad. 
Tliis was at least twice as much as tlie bacon was 
worth ; but we did not bargain as men generally do, 
where half of the bargain is on each side ; for here 
the captain of the keel-boat settled the terms for both 
parties. However, he ran the hazard of being pro- 
secuted for dealing with slaves, which is a very high 
offence in Carolina ; and I was selling that which, 
in point of law, did not belong to me ; but to which, 
nevertheless, I felt in my conscience that 1 had a 
better right than any other person. In support of 
the right, which I felt to be on my side in this case, 
came a keen appetite for the bacon, which settled 
the controversy, upon the question of the morality of 
this traffic, in my favour. It so happened, that we 
made a good haul with our seine this evening, and 
26 



302 NARRATIVE OF THE 

at the time I returned to tlie landing, the men were all 
on shore, engaged in draw ing in the seine. As soon 
as we had taken out the fish, we placed three hun- 
dred of them in one of our canoes, and pushed over 
to riie keel-boat, where ihe fish were counted out, 
and the bacon was received into our craft with all 
possible despatch. One part of this small trade ex- 
hibited a trait of human character which I think 
w^orthy of being noticed. The captain of the boat was 
a middle-aged, thin, sallow man, with long bushy 
hair ; and he looked like one who valued the opin- 
ions of men but little. I expected that he would not 
be scrupulous in giving me my full hundred pounds 
of bacon ; but in this I was mistaken ; for he weigh- 
ed the Hitches with great exactness, in a pair of large 
steelyards, and gave me good weiglit. When the 
business was ended, and the bacon in my canoe, he 
told me, he hoped 1 was satisfied with him ; and as- 
sured me, that I should find the bacon excellent. 
When I was about pushing from the boat, he told 
me in a low voice, though there was no one who 
could hear us, except his own people — that he should 
be down the river again in about two weeks, when 
he should be very glad to buy any produce that I 
had for sale ; adding, " I will give you half as much 
for cotton as it is worth in Charleston, and pay you 
either in money or groceries, as you may choose. 
Take care, and do not betray yourself, and I shall 
be honest with you." 

1 was so much rejoiced, at being in possession of a 
hundred pounds of good flitch bacon, that I had no 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 303 

room ill either my head or my heart, for the consid- 
eration of this man's notions of hone3ty, at the pre- 
sent \un2 ; but paddled with all strength for our 
lari<hn<^, where we took tlie bacon from the canoe, 
stowed it away in an old salt barrel, and safely de- 
posited it in a hole, dug for the purpose in the floor 
of iri}'^ cabin. 

A!)out ihis time, our allowance of sweet potatoes 
wa^ withheld from us alto:^cther, in consetpicnce of 
the hii^Ii price paid f)r this article by the captains of 
the keol-boals ; for the purpn.^e, as I heard, of send- 
ing them to New- York and Philadelphia. Ever since 
Christmas, we had been permitted to draw, on each 
Sunday evenin:^, either a peck of corn, as n.sual, or 
half a peck of corn, and half a bu?'hcl of sweet pota- 
toes, at our discretion. The half a peck of corn, 
and the half a bushel of potatoes was worth much 
more than a peck of corn ; but potatoes were so 
abundant this year, that they were of little value, 
and the saving of corn was an object worth attend- 
iwj; to by a large planter. The boatmen now ollcred 
Haifa dollar a bushel for potatoes, and we were again 
restricted to our corn ration. 

Notwithstanding the privation of our potatoes, 
we at the fishery lived sumptuously ; although our 
master certainU^ believed, that our fare consisted of 
corn bread and river fish, cooked without lard or 
butter. It was necessary to be exceedingly cau- 
tious in the use of our bacon ; and to prevent the 
suspicions of the master and others, who frequented 
our landing, I enjoined our people never to fry any 



304 NARRATIVE OF THE 

of the meat, but to boil it all. No one can smell 
boiled bacon far ; but fried flitch can be smelled a 
mile by a good nose. 

We had two meals every night, one of bacon and 
the other of fried shad ; which nearly deprived us of 
all appetite for the breakfasts and dinners that we 
prepared in the daytime ; consisting of cold corn 
bread without salt, and broiled freshwater fish, with- 
out any sort of seasoning. We spent more than 
two weeks in this happy mode of life, unmolested 
by our master, his son, or the master of the fishery ; 
except when the latter complained, rather than 
threatened us, because we sometimes suffered our 
seine to float too far down the river, and get entan- 
gled amongst some roots and brush that lay on the 
bottom, immediately below our fishing ground. AYe 
now expected, every evening, to see the return of 
the boatman who had sold us the bacon ; and the 
man who was with me in the canoe, at the time 
we received it. had not forgotten the invitation of the 
captain to trade with him in cotton on his return. 
My fellow-slave was a native of Virginia, as he told 
me and had been sold and brought to Carohna about 
ten years before this time. He was a good natured, 
kind hearted man, and did many acts of benevo- 
lence to me, such as one slave is able to perform 
for another, and I felt a real affection for him ; but 
he had adopted the too common rule of moral action, 
that there is no harm in a slave robbing his master. 

The reader may suppose, from my account of the 
bacon, that I, too, had adopted this rule as a part of 



ADVENTURES OF CHxiRLES BALL. 305 

niy creed ; but I solemnly declare, that this was not 
the case, and that I never deprived any one of all 
the masters that I have served, of any thing against 
his consent, unless it was some kind of food ; and 
that of all I ever took, I am confident, I have given 
away more than the half to my fellow-slaves, whom 
I knew to be equally needy with myself. 

The man who had been with me at the keel- 
boat told me one day, that he had laid a plan by 
which we could get thirty or forty dollars, if I would 
join him in the execution of his project. Thirty or 
forty dollars was a large sum of money to me. I 
had never possessed so much money at one time in 
my life ; and I told him that I was willing to do any 
thing by which we could obtain such a treasure. 
He then told me, that he knew where the mule and 
cart that were u::cd by the man who carried away our 
fish, were kept at night ; and that he intended to 
set out, on the first dark night, and go to the planta- 
tion — harness the mule to the cart — go to the cotton- 
gin house — put two bags of cotton into the cart — 
bring ilicm to a thicket of small pines that grew on 
the river l)ank, a short distance below tlie fishery, 
and leave them there until the keel-boat should re- 
turn. All that he desired of me was, to make some 
excuse for his absence, to tlie other hands ; and as- 
sist him to get his cotton into the canoe, at the coming 
of the boat. 

I disliked the whole scheme, both on account of 
its iniquity, and of the danger which attended it ; 
but my companion v» as not to be discouraged by all 
26* 



306 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the arguments which I could use against it, and 
said, if I would not participate in it, he was deter- 
mined to undertake it alone : provided 1 would not 
inform against him. To this I said nothing ; but 
he had so often heard me express my detestation of 
one slave betraying another, tliat 1 presume he felt 
easy on that score. The next night but one after 
this conversation, was very daik : and when we 
went to lay out the seine after night, Nero was mis- 
sing. The other people inquired of me, if I knew 
where he was, and when 1 replied in the negative, 
little more was said on the subject ; it being com- 
mon for the slaves to absent themselves from their 
habitations at niglit, and if the matter is not dis- 
co veied by the overseer or master, nothing is ever 
said of it by the slaves. The other people sup- 
posed that, in this instance, Nero had gone to see a 
woman whom he Uved with as his wife, on a plan- 
tation a few miles down the river ; and were willing 
to work a little harder to permit him to enjoy the 
pleasure of seeing his family. He returned before 
day. and said he had been to see his wife, which sa- 
tisfied the curiosity of our companions. Tlic very 
next evening after Nero's absence, the keel-boat de- 
scended the river, came down on our side, hailed us 
at the fishery, and, drawing in to the shore below our 
landing, made her ropes fast among the young pines 
of which I have spoken above. After we made our 
first haul, I missed Nero ; but he returned to us be- 
fore we had laid out the seine, and told us tbat he 
had been in the woods to collect some light-ivood— 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 307 

dry, resinous pine, — which he brought on his shoul- 
der. When the morning came, the keel-boat was 
gone, and every thing wore the ordinary aspect 
about our fishery ; l3ut when the man came with 
the mule and the cart, to take away the fish, he told 
us that there was great trouble on the plantation. 
The overseer had discovered, that some one had sto- 
len two bags of cotton the last night, and all the 
hands were undergoing an examination on the sub- 
ject. The slaves on tlic plantation, one and all, de- 
nied having any knowledge of the matter, and, as 
there was no evidence against any one, the overseer 
threatencil, at the time he left the quarter, to whip 
every hand on the estate, for tlie purpose of making 
them discover who the thief was. 

The slaves on the plantation differed in opinion as 
to the perpetrator of this theft ; but the greater num- 
ber concurred in charging it upon a free negro man, 
named Ishmael, who lived in a place called the 
White Oak Woods, and followed making ploughs 
and harrow frames. He also made handles for hoes, 
and the frame work of cart ])odies. 

This man was generally reputed a thief for a 
great distance round the country, and the black peo- 
ple charged him with stealing the cotton on no other 
evidence than his general bad cliaracter. The 
overseer, on the other hand, expressed his opinion 
without hesitation ; which was, that the cotton had 
been stolen by some of the people of the plantation, 
and sold to a poor white man, who resided at the 
distance of three miles back in the pine woods, and 



308 NARRATIVE OF THE 

was believed to have dealt with slaves, as a receiver 
of their stolen goods, for many years. 

This white man was one of the class of poor cot- 
tagers to whom I have heretofore referred, in this 
narrative. The house, or cabin, in which lie re- 
sided, v/as built of small poles of the yellow pine, 
with the bark remaining on them ; the roof was of 
clap-boards of pine, and the chimney was made of 
sticks and mud, raised to the height of eight or ten 
feet. The appearance of the man and his wife 
was such as one might expect to find in such a 
dwelling. The lowest poverty had, through life, 
been the companion of these poor people, of which 
their clayey complexions, haggard figures, and tat- 
tered garments, gave the strongest proof. It appeared 
to me, that the state of destitution in which these 
people lived, afforded very convincing evidence that 
they were not in possession of the proceeds of the 
stolen goods of any person. 1 had often been at 
the cabin of this man, in my trapping expeditions, 
the previous autumn and winter ; and I believe 
the overseer regarded the circumstance, thot black 
people often called at his house, as conclusive evi- 
dence that he held criminal intercourse with them. 
However this might be, the overseer determined 
to search the premises of this harmless forester, 
whom he resolved, beforehand, to treat as a guilty 
man. 

It being known that 1 v^as well acquainted with 
the woods, in the neighbourhood of the cabin, I was 
sent for, to leave the fishery, and come to assist in 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 



309 



making search for the lost bags of cotton — perhaps 
it was also believed, that I was in the secrets of the 
suspected house. It was not thought prudent to 
trust any of the hands on the plantation in making 
the intended search, as they were considered the 
priiirij)al thieves; wliilst we, of the fishery, against 
whom no suspicion had ari-en, were reciuired to 
give our assistance, in f'rreiiiig out the perpetrators 
of an olfence of the highest grade that can l)e com- 
mitted by a slave, on a cotton estate. 

Htjf )re leaving the fishery, I advised the master 
to be very careful not to let the overseer, or my mas- 
ter know, that he had left us to manage the fishery 
at night, l)y ourselves; since, as a theft liad been 
coujuiitted, it migiit possibly be charged Ujion him. if it 
were known that he had allowed us so murii liberty. 
I said this to put the master on his guard against 
sur[)risc ; and to prevent him from saying any thing 
that might turn the attention of the overseer to the 
hands at the fishery ; for I knew that if punishment 
were to fall amongst us, it would be quite as likely 
to reach the innocent as the guilty — besides, though 
I was innocent of the bags of cotton, I was guilty of 
the bacon, and, however I might make distinctions 
between the moral turpitude of the two cases, I 
knew that if discovered, they would both be treated 

alike. 

When I arrived at the quarter, whither I repaired, 

in obedience to the orders I received, I found the 

overseer with my masters eldest son, and a young 

white man, who had been employed to repair the 



310 NARRATIVE OF THE 

cotton-gin, waiting for me. I observed when I came 
near the overseer, that he looked at me very atten- 
tively, and afterwards called my young master aside, 
and spoke to him in a tone of voice too low to be 
heard by me. The white gentlemen then mounted 
their horses, and set oft' by the road for the cabin of 
the white man. I had orders to take a short route, 
through the woods and across a swamp, by which 
I could reach the cabin as soon as the overseer. 

The attentive examination that the overseer had 
given me, caused mo to feel uneasy, although I could 
not divine the cause of his scrutiny, nor of the sub- 
ject of the short conversation between him and my 
young master. By travelling at a rapid pace, I ar- 
rived at the cabin of the suspected man before the 
gentlemen, but thought it prudent not to approach it 
before they came up, lest it might be imagined that 
I had gone in to give information to the occupants 
of the danger t'lat threatened them. 

Here I had a hard struggle with my conscience, 
v/hich seemed to say to me, that I ought at once to 
disclose all I knew concerning the lost bags of cot- 
ton, for the purpose of saving these poor people from 
the terror that they must necessarily feel at the sight 
of those who were coming to accuse them of a great 
crime, perhaps from the afflictions and sufferings 
attendant upon a prosecution in a court of justice. 
These reflections were cut short by the arrival of the 
party of gentlemen, who passed me where I sat, at 
the side of the path, with no other notice than a 
simple command of the overseer to come on. I fol- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 311 

lowed them inlo the cabin, where we found the man 
and liis wife, with two Uttle children, eating- roasted 
potatoes. 

The overseer saluted this family by telling them 
that we had come to search the house for stolen cot- 
ton. That it was well known that he had long 
been dealing with negroes, and they were now de- 
termined to bring liiii] to punishment. I was then 
ordered to tear up the floor of the cabin, whilst the 
overseer mounted into tlie loft. I found nothing un- 
der the floor, and the overseer had no better success 
above. The wife was then advised to confess where 
her husband had concealed the cotton, to save her- 
self from being brought in as a party to the aflair; 
but this poor woman protested with tears that they 
were totally ignorant of the whole matter. Whilst 
the wife was interrogated, the father stood without 
his own door, trembhng with fear, but, as I could 
perceive, indignant with rage. 

The overseer, who was fluent in the use of pro- 
fane language, exerted the liighest degree of his vul- 
gar eloquence upon these harmless people, whose 
only crime was their poverty, and whose weakness 
alone had invited the ruthless aggression of their 
powerful and rich neiglibours. 

Finding nothing in the house, the gentlemen set 
out to scour the woods around the cabin, and com- 
manded me to take the lead in tracing out tree tops 
and thickets, where it was most likely that the stolen 
cotton might be found. Our search was in vain, as 
I knew it would be beforehand ; but when weary of 



312 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ranging in the woods, the gentlemen again returned 
to the cabin, which we now found witliout inhabi- 
tants. The alarm caused by our visit, and the man- 
ner in which the gentlemen had treated this lonely 
family, had caused them to abandon their dwelling, 
and seek safety in flight. The door of the house 
was closed and fastened with a string to a nail in the 
post of the door. After calling several times for the 
fugitives, and receiving no answer, the door was 
kicked open by my young master ; the few articles 
of miserable furniture that the cabin contained, in- 
cluding a bed, made of flags, were thrown into a 
heap in the corner, and fire w^as set to the dwelling 
by the overseer. 

We remained until the flames had reached the 
roof of the cabin, when the gentlemen mounted their 
horses and set off for home, ordering me to return by 
the way that I had come. When we again reach- 
ed the house of my master, several gentlemen of the 
neighbourhood had assembled, drawn together by 
common interest that is felt amongst the planters to 
punish theft, and particularly a theft of cotton in the 
bag. My young master related to his neighbours, 
with great apparent satisfaction, the exploits of the 
morning ; said he had routed one receiver of stolen 
goods out of the country, and that all others of his 
character ought to be dealt with in the same man- 
ner. In this opinion all the gentlemen present con- 
curred, and after much conversation on the subject, 
it was agreed to call a general meeting for the pur- 
pose of devising the best, surest, and most peaceful 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 313 

method of removing from the country the many- 
white men who, residing in the district without pro- 
perty, or without interest in preserving the morals of 
the slaves, were heheved to carry on an unlawful 
and criminal traffic with the negroes, to the great 
injury of the planters in general, and of the mas- 
ters of the slaves who dealt witli theoflcnders in par- 
ticular. 

I was present at this preliminary consullation, 
which took place at my master's cotton-f:^in, whither 
tlie gentlemen had repaired for the purpo.-e of look- 
ing at the place where the cotton had been removed. 
So many cases of this forbidden traflic between the 
slaves and these '• white negro dealers,' as they 
were termed, were here related by the different gen- 
tlemen, and so many white men were referred to by 
name as being concerned in this criminal business, 
that 1 began to suppose the losses of the planters in 
this way must be innnense. This conference con- 
tinued until I had totally forgotten the scrutinizing 
look (hat I had received from our overseer at the 
time 1 came up from the (ishery in the morning ; 
but the period had now come when I again was to 
be reminded of this circumstance, for on a sudden 
the overseer called me to come forward and let the 
gentlemen see me. I again felt a sort of vague and 
undefiiiable apprehension that no good was to grow 
out of this examination of my person, but a com- 
mand of our overseer was not to be disobeyed. After 
looking at my face, with a kind of leer or side glance, 
one of the gentlemen, who was an entire stranger to 
27 



314 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



me, and whom I had never hefoie seen, said, ^' Boy, 
you appear to Uve well : how much meat does your 
master allow you in a week ? "' I was almost totally 
confounded at the name of meat, and felt the blood 
rush to my heart, but nevertheless forced a sort of 
smile upon my face, and replied, '• My master has 
been very kind to all his people of late, but has not 
allowed us any meat for some weeks. We have 
plenty of good bread, and abundance of river fish, 
which, together with the heads and roes of the shad 
that we have salted at the landing-, makes a very 
excellent living for us; though if master would 
please to give us a little meat now and then, we 
should be very thankful for it." 

This speech, which contained all the eloquence I 
was master of at the time, seemed to produce some 
effect in my favour, for the gentleman said nothing 
in reply, until the overseer, rising from a board on 
w^iich he had been sitting, came close up to me and 
said, " Charles, you need not tell lies about it ; you 
have been eating meat, I know you have, no negro 
could look as fat, and sleek, and black, and greasy, - 
as you, if he had nothing to eat but corn bread and 
river chubs. You do not look at all as you did be- 
fore you went to the fishery ; and all the hands on 
the plantation have had as many chubs and other 
river fish as they could eat, as well as you, and yet 
they are as poor as snakes in comparison with you. 
Come, tell us the truth, let us know where you get the 
meat that you have been eating, and you shall not 
be whipped." I begged the overseer and the other 



ADVENTURES OF CHAllLES BALL. 315 

geiUleinea not to ridicule or make sport of me, be- 
cause I was a poor slave, and was obliged to live on 
bread and fresh water fish ; and concluded this sec- 
ond harangue by expressing my thankfulness to 
God Almighty, for giving me such good hralth and 
strength as to enable me to do my work, and look so 
well as I did upon such poor fare ; adding, that if I 
only had as much bicon a< I could eat. they would 
soon see a man of a dillerent appearance from that 
which I now evhibiicd. " None of your palaver," 
rejoined the overseer—'- Why, I smell the meat in 
you this moment. Do I not see the grease as it rung 
out of your face T' I was by this time in a profuse 
sweat, caused by the anxiety of my feelings, and 
simply said, " Master sees me sweat, I suj^pose." 

All the genilrmcn present then declared, with one 
accord, that I nuist have Ix^en living on meat for a 
long time, as no negro, who had no meat to cat, 
could look as I did ; and one of the conipany advised 
the overseer to whip nio, and compel me to confess 
the truth. I have no dmibt but this advice would 
have been practically followed, had it not been for a 
happy, though dangerous suggestion of my own 
mind, at ibis moment. It was no other than a pro- 
posal on my part, that I should be taken to the 
landing, and if all the people there did not look as 
well, and as much like meat-eaters as I did, then I 
would agree to be whipped in any way the gentle- 
men should deem expedient. This ofler on my part 
was instantly accepted by the gentlemen, and it 
was agreed amongst them that the^ would all go to 



316 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the landing with the overseer, partly for the purpose 
of seeing me condemned by the judgment to which 
I had voluntarily chosen to submit myself, and 
partly for the purpose of seeing my master's new 
fishery. 

AYe were quickly at the landing, though four 
miles distant ; and I now felt confident that I should 
escape the dangers that beset me. provided the mas- 
ter of the fishery did not betray his own negligence, 
and lead himself, as well as us, into new troubles. 

Though on foot, I was at the landing as soon as 
the gentlemen, and was first to announce to the mas- 
ter the feats we had performed in tlie course of the 
day, adding, with great emphasis, and even confi- 
dence in my manner, " You know, master fish-mas- 
ter, w^hether we have had any meat to eat here or 
not. If w^e had meat here, would not you see it ? 
You have been up with us every night, and know 
that we have not been allowed to take even shad, 
let alone having meat to eat." The fish-master 
supported me in all I said ; declared we had been 
good l)oys — had worked night and da}^. of his cer- 
tain knowledge, as he had been with us all night 
and every night since we began to fish. That he 
had not allowed us to eat any thing but fresh water 
fish, and the heads and roes of the shad that were 
salted at the landing. As to meat, he said he was 
wdUing to be qualified on a cart load of testaments 
that there had not been a pound at the landing 
since the commencement of the season, except that 
which he had in his own cabin. I had now acquir- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 317 

ed confidence, and desired the gentlemen to look at 
Nero and the other hands, all of whom had as 
much the appearance of bacon eaters as myself. 
This was the truth, especially with regard to one of 
the men, who was much fatter than I was. 

The gentlemen now began to doubt the evidence 
of their own senses, which they had held infallible 
heretofore. I showed the fme fish that we had to 
eat; cat. perch. mullrt<, and esp(vially two large 
pikes, tliat had l>een caui^ht to-day, and assured 
them that upon such fare as this men iiiust needs 
get fat. I now p.MCfivcd thai victory was with mo 
for once. All the gentlemen faltered, hesitated, and 
began to tidk of other affa s, except the overseer, 
who still ran about the landing, swearing and 
scratching his head, and sayinix it was strange that 
we were so fat, whilst the hands on the plantation 
were as lean as .sand-hill cranes. He was obliged 
to give the affair over. He was no longer supported 
by my young master and his companions, all of 
whom congratulated themselves upon a discovery 
80 useful and valuable to the planting interest ; and 
all determined to [)rovide, as soon as possible, a pro- 
per supply of fresh river fish for their hands. 

The two bales of cotton were never once named, 
and, I suppose, were not thought of by (he gentle- 
men, when at the landing; and this was well for 
Nero ; for such was the consternation and terror in- 
to which he was thrown, hy the presence of the gen- 
tlemen, and their inquiries concerning our eating of 
meat, that the sw.-at rolled off him like rain from 
27* 



318 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the plant never-wet ; his countenance was wild and 
haggard, and his knees shook like the wooden spring 
of a wheat-fan. T believe, that if they had charged 
him at once with steahng the cotton, he would have 
confessed the deed. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

After this, the fishing season passed off witliout 
any thing having happened, worthy of being noticed 
here. When we left the fishery, and returned to 
the plantation, which was after tlie middle of April, 
tlie corn and cotton had all been planted, and the 
latter had been replanted. 1 was set to plough, 
with two mules for my team ; and having never 
been accustomed to ploughing with these animals, I 
had much trouble with tliem at first. My master 
owned more than forty mules, and at this season of 
the year, they were all at work in the cotton field, 
used instead of horses for drawing ploughs. Some 
of the largest were hitched single to a plough : but 
the smallest were coupled together. 

On the whole, the fishery had been a losing afl^air 
with me ; for although I had lived better at the 
landing, than I usually did at the plantation, yet I 
had been compelled to work all the time, by night 
and by day, including Sunday, for my master ; by 
which I had lost all that I could have earned for my 
own benefit, had I been on the plantation. I had 
now become so well acquainted with the rules of the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 319 

plantation, and tlio customs of the country where I 
lived, that I experienced less distress than I did at 
my fust coming to the south. 

AVo now received a shad every Sunday cven- 
ini^ with our peck of corn. The fish were those 
that 1 had caught in the spring; and were tolera- 
bly preserved. In addiii(in to all this, each one of 
the hands now received a pint of vinegar, every 
week. This vinegar was a great comfort to ine. 
As the weather hecame hot, I gathered lettuce, 
and other salads, from my garden in the woods ; 
wliich, with the vinegar and bread, furnished mc 
many a cheerful meal. The vinegar had been fur- 
nished to us by our master, more out of regard to 
our hr;il(h, than to our comfort ; but it greatly pro- 
moted h«)(h. 

'V\\r allairs of the pl.uif.uiou now wont on (.juict- 
ly, until aftrr the cotton li nl Ixcn ploughed, and 
hoed th(^ Iir>t time, after replanting. The working 
of the cotton crop is not disagreeable labour — no 
more so than the culiur(^ of corn— but we were called 
upon to i>erform a kind of labour, than which none 
can be more toilsome to the body, or dangerous to 
the health. 

I have elsewhere informed the reader, that my 
master was a cultivator of rice, as well as of cotton. 
Whilst I was at the fishery in the spring, thirty 
acres of swamp land had been cleared off, ploughed, 
and planted in rice. The water had now been turned 
olT the plants, and the field was to be ploughed 
and hoed. When we were taken to the rice field, 



320 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the weather was very hot, and the ground was 
yet muddy and wet. The ploughs were to be drag- 
ged through the wet soil, and the young rice had to 
be cleaned of weeds, by the hand, and hilled up with 
the hoe. 

It is the common opinion, that no stranger can 
work a week in a rice swamp, at this season of the 
year, without becoming sick ; and all the new 
hands, three in number, besides myself, were taken 
ill within the first five days, after we had entered 
this field. The other three were removed to the 
sick room ; but I did not go there, choosing rather 
to remain at the quarter, where I was my own mas- 
ter, except that the doctor, who called to see me, took 
a large quantity of blood from my arm, and com- 
pelled me to take a dose of some sort of medicine 
that made me very sick, and caused me to vomit 
violently. This happened on the second day of my 
illness, and from this time 1 recovered slowly, but 
was not able to go to the field again for more than a 
week. Here it is but justice to my master to say, 
that during all the time of my illness, some one came 
from the great house, every day, to inquire after me, 
and to offer me some kind of light and cool refresh- 
ment. I might have gone to the sick room at any 
time, if 1 had chosen to do so. 

An opinion generally prevails, amongst the people 
of both colours, that the drug copperas is very 
poisonous — and perhaps it may be so, if taken in 
large quantities — but the circumstance, that it is 
used in medicine, seems to forbid the notion of its 



ADVENTURES OF CIIARLKS BALL. 321 

poisonou3 qualities. I l)elicve copperas was mingled 
with the potion llie doctor gave to me. Some over- 
seers keep copperas by them, as a medicine, to be 
administered to the hands whenever they become 
sick ; buttliis I fake to be abaci practice ; for although, 
in some cases, this drug may be very efficacious, 
it certaiidy should l)c achninistcrcd by a more skilful 
hand than that of an overseer. It, however, has the 
eflfect of deterring the people from comj)laining of 
illness, until they arc no longer al)lc to work ; for it 
is the most n.iu-eous and sickening medicine that 
was ever taken into the stomach. Ignorant, or ma- 
licious overseers may. and often do, misapply it; as 
was the case with our overseer, when he compelled 
poor Lydia to Uikii a drau<jht of its solution. A.^ter 
the restoration of my hc-ilih, I rt>uni<'d my accus- 
tomed lalMHir in the firld. and couiimicil it, without 
intermission, until I left this plantation. 

We had, this year, as a part of our crop, ten acres 
of indi«j:o. 'VUU plant is worked nearly after the 
maimer of ricr, except, that it is planted on high 
and dry ground, whilst the rice is always cultivated 
in low swam|>s, where the ground maybe inundated 
with water ; but notwithstanding its location on dry 
ground, the culture of indigo is not less unpleasant 
than that of rice. When the rice is ripe, and ready 
for the sickle, it is no longer disagreeable ; but when 
the indigo is ripe and ready to cut, the troubles at- 
tendant upon it have only commenced. 

The indigo plant bears more resemblance to the 
weed called wild indigo, which Is common in the 



322 NARRATIVE OF THE 

woods of Pennsylvania, than to any other herb with 
which I am acquainted. 

The root of the indigo plant is long and slender, 
and emits a scent somewhat like that of parsley. 
From the root issues a single stem, straight, hard, 
and slender, covered with a bark, a little cracked on 
its surface, of a gray colour towards the bottom, 
green in the middle, reddish at the extremity, and 
without the appearance of pith in the inside. The 
leaves ranged in pairs around the stalk, are of an 
oval form, — smooth, soft to the touch, furrowed 
above, and of a deep green on the under side. The 
upper parts of the plant are loaded with small flow- 
ers, destitute of smell. Each flower changes into a 
pod, enclonng seed. 

This plant thrives best in a rich, moist soil. The 
seeds are black, very small, and sowed in straight 
drills. This crop requires very careful culture, and 
must be kept free from every kind of weeds and 
grass. It ripens ^^ ithin less than three months from 
the time it is sown. When it begins to flower, the 
top is cut off, and, as new flowers appear, the plant 
is again pruned, until the end of the season. 

Indigo impoverishes land more rapidly than al- 
most any other crop, and the plant must be gathered 
in with great caution, for fear of shaking- off" the va- 
luable farina that lies in the leaves. When ga- 
thered, it is thrown into the steeping vat — a large 
tub filled with water— here it undergoes a fermenta- 
tion, which, in twenty-four hours, at farthest, is 
completed. A cock is then turned to let the water 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 323 

run into the second tul), calltnl the mortar, or pound- 
ing tub : the steeping vat is then cleaned out, that 
fresh plants may be thrown in ; and thus the work 
is continued, without interruption. The water in 
the pounding tub is stirred with wooilen buckets, 
with holes in their bottoms, for several days; and, 
after the sediment contained in the water, has set- 
tled to the bottom of the tub, the water is let of]', and 
the sediment, which is tlu) indigo of commerce, is 
gathered into bags, and hung up to drain. It is af- 
terward?^ pre.-sod, and laid away to dry in cakes, and 
then |)ark«Ml in chrsl.s for market. 

Washing at the tuljs is exceedingly unpleasant, 
l>oth on account of the tilth and the stench, arising 
from the decomposition of the plants. 

In (lie early part t)f June, our shad, (hat each one 
had been used to receive, was wiiiilnl(l from us, and 
we no longer received any thing i»ut the peck of 
corn, and pint of vinegar. This circumstance, in a 
cotmnunity less severely disciplined than oms, might 
have procured nuirmurs; but to us it was only an- 
nounced by the fact of the fish not being distributed 
to us on Sunday evening. 

This was considered a fortunate season by our 
people. There had been no exemplary punishment 
inflicted amongst us, for several months ; we had 
escaped entirely upon the occasion of the stolen bags 
of cotton, though nothing less was to have been look- 
ed for, on that occurrence, than a general whipping 
of the whole gang. 

There was more or less of whipping amongst 



S24 NARRATIVE OP THE 

US, every week ; frequently, one was flogged every 
evening, over and above the punishments that fol- 
lowed on each settlement day ; but these chastise- 
ments, which seldom exceeded ten or twenty lash- 
es, were of little import. 1 was careful, for my 
own part, to conform to all the regulations of the 
plantation. 

When I no longer received my fish from the over- 
seer, I found it necessary again to resort to my own 
expedients, for the purpose of procuring something 
in the shape of animal food, to add to my bread and 
greens. 

I had, by this time, become well acquainted with 
the woods and swamps, for several miles round our 
plantation ; and this being the season when the tur- 
tles came upon the land, to deposite their eggs, I 
availed myself of it, and going out one Sunday 
morning, caught, in the course of the day, by trav- 
elling cautiously around the edges of the swamps, 
ten snapping turtles, four of which were very large. 
As I caught these creatures, I tied each one with 
hickory bark, and hung it up to the bough of a 
tree, so that I could come and carry it home at my 
leisure. 

I afterwards carried my turtles home, and put 
them into a hole that I dug in the ground, four or 
five feet deep, and secured the sides by driving 
small pieces of spUt timber into the ground, quite 
round tlie circumference of the hole, the upper ends 
of the timber standing out above the ground. Into 



ADTKNTURE3 OF CHARLES BALL. 325 

this hole I poured water at pleasure, auil kopt my 
turtles until I needed them. 

On the next Sunday, 1 again went to the swam [le 
to search for turtle.^; hut as the |>eri.)d of laying 
their eggs had nearly passed, I had poor success to 
day, only taking two turtles of the species called 
skill-poLs — a kind of large terrapin, with a 6|)eckled 
back and red belly. 

This day, when I was three or four n)iles from 
hon>e, in a very soliiary part of the swanj|>s, I heard 
the sound of bells, similar to those which wagoners 
place on the shoulders of their horses. At first, the 
noise of Im'IIs of this kind, in a place where they 
were so unex|)ected, alarmed me, as I could not 
imagine who or what it was that was causing these 
bells to ring. I was sUmding near a pond of water, 
and listening ailrniively ; I thought the bells were 
moving in the wukIs, and coming toward me. I 
therefore crouched down upon the ground, wiidrr cov- 
er of a cluster of small hushes that were near me, 
and lay, not free from dis(|uietude, to await iIkmumt 
approach ofthc-c mysterious bells. 

Sometimes they were (juile silent for a minute or 
more at a time, and then again would jingle (juick, 
but not loud. Tii.'y were evidently approaching- 
me ; and at length I heard footsteps distinctly in 
tlie leaves, which lay dry upon the ground. A feel- 
ing of horror seized me at this moment, for I now 
recollected that I was on the verge of the swamp, 
near which the vultures and carrion crows had 
mangled the living ^bodies of the two murderers • 
28 



326 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and my terror was not abated, when, a moment af- 
ter, I saw come from behind a large tree, the form of 
a brawny, famished-looking black man, entirely na- 
ked, with his hair matted and shaggy, his eyes wild 
and rolling, and bearing over his head something in 
the form of an arch, elevated three feet above his 
hair, beneath the top of which were suspended the 
bells, three in number, whose sound had first attract- 
ed my attention. Upon a closer examination of this 
frightful figure, I perceived that it wore a collar of iron 
about its neck, with a large padlock pendent from 
behind, and carried in its hand a long stafi', with an 
iron spear in one end. The staflf, hke every thing 
else belonging to this strange spectre, was black. 
It slowly approached within ten paces of me, and 
stood still. 

The sun was now down, and the early twilight 
produced by the gloom of the heavy forest, in the 
midst of which I was, added approaching darkness 
to heighten my dismay. My heart was in my 
mouth ; all the hairs of my head started from their 
sockets ; I seemed to be rising from my hiding }:>lace 
into the open air, in spitje of myself, and I gasped 
for breath. 

The black apparition moved past me, went to the 
water and kneeled down. The forest re-echoed 
with the sound of the bells, and their dreadful peals 
filled the deepest recesses of the swamps, as their 
bearer, drank the water of the pond, in which I 
thought 1 heard his irons hiss, when they came in 
contact with it. I felt confident that I was now in 



i 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 327 

the iinniediate pre-oncc of an inhabitant of a nether 
and liery world, who had Ijcen permitted to escape, 
for a time, from the place of his torment, and come 
to revisit the scenes of his former crimes. I now 
gave myself up for lost, without other aid than my 
own, and began to pray aloud to heaven to protect 
me. At the sound of my voice, the supposed evil one 
appeared to l>c scarcely less alarmed than I was. 
lie sprang to his feel, and, at a single bound, rushed 
middeep into the water, then turnimr, he besou-j-lu 
me in a sup|)liaiit and piteous tone of voice, to have 
mercy up)n him, and not carry him back to his 
master. 

Tlie suddenness with which we pass from the ex- 
treme of one passion, to the utmost hounds of an- 
other, is inconceivable, and nunt be assigned to the 
catilo'^ue of unknown causes and elTecLs, unless we 
suppose the human frame to be an involuntary ma- 
chine, operated upon by surroundin<^r objects which 
give it different and contrary impulses, as a ball is 
driven to and fro by the liatons of boy:^, when they 
play in troops upon a common. I had no sooner 
heard a human voice than all my fears (led, as a 
spark that ascends from a heap of burning charcoal, 
and vanishes to nothing. 

I at once perceived, that the object that had well 
nigh deprived me of my reason, so far from having 
either the will or the power to injure me, was only a 
poor destitute African negro, still more wretched and 
helpless than myself. 

ilisinof from the bushes, I now advanced to the 



328 NARRATIVE OF THE 

water side, and desired him to come out without fear, 
and to be assured that if I could render him any as- 
iistance, I would do it most cheerfully. As to car- 
rying him back to his master, I was more ready to 
ask help to deliver me from my own, than to give 
aid to any one in forcing him back to his. 

We now went to a place in the forest, where the 
ground was, for some distance, clear of trees, and 
where the light of the sun was yet so strong, that 
every object could be seen. JMy new friend now de- 
sired me to look at his back, which was seamed and 
ridged with scars of the whip, and the hickory, from 
the pole of his neck to the lower extremity of the 
spine. The natural colour of the skin had disap- 
peared, and was succeeded by a streaked and speck- 
led appearance of dusky white and pale llesh col- 
our, scarcely any of the original black remaining. 
The skin of this man's back had been again and 
again cut away by the thong, and renewed by the 
hand of nature, until it was grown fast to the flesh, 
and felt hard and turbid. 

He told me his name was Paul ; that he was a 
native of Congo, in Africa, and had been a slave five 
years ; that he had left an aged mother, a widow, 
at home, as also a wife and four children ; that it 
had been his misfortune to fall into the hands of a 
master, who was frequently drunk, and whose tem- 
per was so savage, that his chief delight appeared to 
consist in whipping and torturing his slaves, of 
whom he owned near twenty ; but through some 
unaccountable caprice, he had contracted a particu- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 329 

lar dislike against Paul, whose life he now declared 
to me, was insupfwrtahle. He had thon been wan- 
dering in the woods:, more than thn^e weeks, with 
no other subsistence than the land tortoises, froi^, 
and other reptiles that he had taken in the wcxxls, 
and along the shores of the ponds, with the aid of 
his sprar. H«* had not been able to take any of tlie 
turtles in the laying season, because the noise of his 
bells frii^'hlened then], and ihry always escajwd to 
the water iM-fore he could catch ihein. He had found 
many e;:gs, which he had eaten raw, having no fire, 
nor any means of making fire, to cook his food. 
He had been afraid to travel much in the middle of 
the day, lest the sound of his bells should be heard 
by some one, who would make his master accjuaint- 
ed with the place of his concealment. The only pe- 
riixJi* when he ventured to go in search of foo<l, were 
early in the morning, l>efore |H-ople could have lime 
to leave their homes and reach the swamp ; or late 
in the evening, after those who were in pursuit of 
him had gone to their dwellings for the night. 

This man sjwke our laniruagc im|)erreetly, but 
possessed a sound and vigorous umlersianding; and 
reasoned with me u|)on the propriety of destroying a 
life which was doom.-d to continual distress. He in- 
formed me that he had first run away from his mas- 
ter more than two years ago, after being whipped, 
with long hickory switches, until he fainted. That 
he concealed liimself in a swamp, at that time, ten 
or fifteen miles from this place, for more than six 
monihs, but was finally l^etrayed by a woman whom 
28* 



330 NARRATIVE OF THE 

he sometimes visited ; that when taken, he was 
again whipped until he was not able to stand, and 
had a heavy block of wood chained to one foot, 
which he was obliged to drag after him at his daily 
labour, for more than three months, when he found 
an old file, with which he cut the irons from his an- 
cle, and again escaped to the woods, but was retaken 
within little more than a week after his flight, by 
two men who were looking for their cattle, and came 
upon him in the woods where he was asleep. 

On beiui? returned to his master, he was aoain 
whipped ; and then the iron collar that he now wore, 
with the iron rod, extending from one shoulder over 
his head to the oiher, with the bells fastened at the 
top of the arcli, were put upon him. Of these irons 
he could not divest himself, and wore them constant- 
ly from that time to llie present. 

1 had no instruments with me, to enable me to 
release Paul from his manacles, and all I could do 
for him was to desire him to go with me to the place 
where I had left my terrapins, which I gave to him, 
together with all the eggs that I had found to-day. 
I also caused him to lie down, and having furnished 
myself with a flint-stone, (many of wliich lay in the 
sand near the edge of the pond) and a handful of 
dry moss, I succeeded in striking fire from the iron 
collar, and made z. fire of sticks, upon which he could 
roast the terrapins and the eggs. It was now quite 
dark, and I was full tw^o miles from my road, with 
no path to guide me towards home, but the small 
traces made in the woods by the cattle. 



ADVENTURES OF cnARLF:S BALL. 331 

I advised Paul to bear liLs misfortunes as r>c\\ ai 
lie could, until the next Sunday, when I would re- 
turn and brini^ with nic a file, and other things ne- 
cessary to the removal of his fetters. 

I now set out alone, to make my way home, not 
without some little feelintr <>f lrepidalit>ii, as I |>assed 
alonix in the dark shade of the pine trees, and 
lh<»ui,'ht of the terrific deeds that had l>ecn done in 
the.sc woods. 

Thi.-^ was the |)eri<>l of the full moon, which now 
rose, and cast her brilliant rays through the tops of 
the trees that overhuni^ my way, and envelo|)ed my 
path in a elf>on) more cheerlc»ss than the ol^scurity of 
total darkness. The path 1 travelled led hy simiosi- 
ties around the marj^in of the swamp, and finally 
ended at the extremity of the cart-road terminating 
at the sjiot where David and Hardy had been f^iven 
alive for fiKxl to vultures ; and over this ground I was 
nowoblitjcd to fviss, unless I cho»^e to turn far to the 
left, through the pathless forest, and make njy way 
to the high road near the sjx)t where the lady had 
been lorn from her horse. I haled ihe idea of ac- 
knowledging lo my own hearl, that I was a coward, 
and dared not look upon the bones of a murderer at 
niiilniL^ht ; and there wa«^ lillle less of awe attached 
to the notion of visiting the ground where the ghost 
of the murdered woman was reported to wander in 
the moonl)eams, than in visiting the scene where 
diabolical crimes had been visited by fiend-like pun- 
ishment. 

My opinion is, that there is no one who is not at 



332 NARRATIVE OF THE 

times subject to a sensation approaching fear, when 
placed in situations similar to that in which I found 
myself this night. I did not believe that those who 
had passed the dark line, which separates the living 
from the dead, could again return to the earth, ei- 
ther for good or for evil ; but that solemn foreboding 
of the heart which directs the minds of all men to a 
contemplation of the just judgment, which a supe- 
rior, and unknown power, holds in reservation for 
the deeds of this life, filled my soul with a dread 
conception of tlie unutterable woes which a righteous 
and unerring tribunal must award to the blood-stain- 
ed spirits of the two men whose lives had been closed 
in such unspeakable torment by the side of the path 
I was now treading. 

The moon had risen high above the trees, and 
shone with a clear and cloudless light ; the whole 
firmament of heaven was radiant with the lustre of 
a mild and balmy summer evening. Save only the 
droppings of the early dew from the lofty branches 
of the trees into the water, which lay in shallow pools 
on my right, and the Hght trampling of my own 
footsteps ; the stillness of night pervaded the lonely 
wastes around me. But there is a deep melancholy 
in the sound of the heavy drop as it meets the bosom 
of the wave in a dense forest at night, that revives in 
the memory the recollection of the days of other 
years, and fills the heart with sadness. 

I was now approaching the unhallowed ground 
where lay the remains of the remorseless and guilty 
dead, who had gone to their final account, reeking in 



ADVENTUREg OF CIIARLKg BALL. 333 

(heir sins, unatoned. unblest, and unwept. Already 
I saw liie bones, whitened by the rain, and Ijleach- 
cd ill the sun, lying scattered and dispersed, a leg 
hero and an arm there, whilst a scull with the un- 
der jaw in its place, retaining allit:, teeth, grinned a 
ghastly laugh, witli its front full in the l)eanis of the 
moon, which, falling into the vacant socket.=? o( the 
eye-balls, reilected a jyile shadow froui these desert- 
ed caverns, and played in twinklinir histrc upon the 
bald, and skinless forehead. 

In a moment, the niirht-breeze agiialcd the leaves 
of the W(hk1 and moaned in <heary sighs through the 
lofj y pine loj)s : the gale sliook the forest in tlie depth 
of iis sohtudes : a cloud swept acro.ss tlie moon, and 
her liirlit disnpprared ; a tlock of carrion crows dis- 
turbed in th.'ir roost.^, flapped ibeir wings and flutter- 
ed over my head ; and a woh; who had been gnaw- 
ing the dry l)one.s, greeted the darkness with a long 
and dismal howl. 

I f'lt tlie blood chill in my veins, and all my joints 
shuddered, as if I had been smitten by electricity. 
At least a minute elapsed before I recovered the 
power of self-government. I hastened to fly from a 
place devoted to crime, where an evil genius ])residcd 
in darkness over a fell assembly of howling wolves, 
and blood-snutfing vultures. 

When I arrived at the quarter, all was quiet. 
The inhabitants of this mock-village were wrapped 
in forgetfulness ; and I stole silently into my little 
loft, and joined my neighbours in their repose. Ex- 
perience had made me so well acquainted with the 



334 NARRATIVE OP THE 

dangers that beset the life of a slave, that I determin- 
ed, as a matter of prudence, to say nothing to any- 
one, of the adventures of this Sunday ; but went to 
work on Monday morning, at the summons of the 
overseer's horn, as if nothing unusual had occurred. 
In the course of the week, I often thought of the for- 
lorn and desponding African, who had so terrified me 
in the woods, and who seemed so grateful for the 
succour I gave him. I felt anxious to become bet- 
ter acquainted with this man, who possessed knowl- 
edge superior to the common race of slaves, and 
manifested a moral courage in the conversation 
that I had with him, worthy of a better fate than 
that to which fortune had consigned him. On the 
following Sunday, having provided myself with a 
large file, which I procured from the blacksmith's 
shop, belonging to the plantation, I again repaired to 
the place, at the side of the swamp, where I had first 
seen the figure of this ill-fated man. I expected that 
he would be in waiting for me at the appointed 
place, as I had promised him that I would certainly 
come again, at this time ; but on arriving at the spot 
where I had left him, I saw no sign of any person. 
The remains of the fire that I had kindled were 
here, and it seemed that the fire had been kept up 
for several days, by the quantity of ashes that lay in 
a heap, surrounded by numerous small brands. 
The impressions of human feet, were thickly dispo- 
sed around this decayed fire : and the bones of the 
terrapins that I had given to Paul, as well as the 
skeletons of many frogs, were scattered upon the 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 335 

ground ; but there was nothinc: that showed that 
any one had visited this s}X)t, since the fall of the last 
rain, which I now recollected had taken place on the 
previous Thursday. From this circumstance I con- 
cluded, that Paul had relieved himself of his irons, 
and gone to seek concealment in some other place; 
or that his master had discovered his retreat, and 
earned him l)ack to the plantation. 
• Whilst standing at the ashes I heard the croaking 
of ravens at some distance in the woods, and inune- 
diatcly afterwards a turkey-huzzard passed over me 
pursued by an eagle, coming from the quarter in 
which I had just heard the ravens. I knew that the 
eagle never pursued the buzzard for the purpose of 
preying upon him, but only to compel him to dis- 
gorge himself of his own prey for the benefit of the 
king of birds. I therefore concluded that yierc was 
some dead animal in my neighbourhood that had 
called all these ravenous fowls together. It might be 
that Paul had killed a cow by knocking her down 
with a pine knot, and that he had removed his resi- 
dence to this slaughtered animal. Curiosity was 
aroused in me, and I proceeded to examine the 
woods. 

1 had not advanced more than two hundred yards 
when I felt oppressed by a most sickening stench, 
and saw the trees swarming with birds of prey, buz- 
zards perched upon their branches, ravens sailing 
amongst their lx>ughs, and clouds of carrion crows 
flitting about, and poising themselves in the air in a 
stationary position, after the manner of that most 



336 NARRATIVE OF THE 

nauseous of all birds, when it perceives, or thinks it 
perceiv^es, some object of prey. Proceeding onward, 
I came in view of a large sassafras tree, around the 
top of which was congregated a cloud of crows, 
some on the boughs and others on the wing, whilst 
numerous buzzards were sailing low and nearly- 
skimming the ground. This sassafras tree had 
many low horizontal branches, attached to one of 
which I now saw the cause of so vast an assembly 
of the obscene fowls of the air. The hfeless and 
putrid body of the unhappy Paul hung suspended 
by a cord made of twisted hickory bark, passed in 
the form of a halter roimd the neck, and firmly 
bound to a limb of the tree. 

It was manifest that he had climbed the tree, 
fastened the cord to the branch, and then sprung 
ofi". Tli^ smell that assailed my nostrils was too 
overwhelming to permit me to remain long in view 
of the dead body, which was much mangled and 
torn, though its identity was beyond question, for 
the iron co]lar,*and the bells with the arch that bore 
them, were still in their place. The bells had pre- 
served the corpse from being devoured ; for w^hilst I 
looked at it I observed a crow descend upon it, and 
make a stroke at the face with its beak, but the mo- 
tion that this gave to the bells caused them to rattle, 
and the bird took to flight. 

Seeing that I could no longer render assistance to 
Paul, who was now beyond the reach of his mas- 
ter's tyranny, as well as of my pity, I returned with- 
out delay to my master's house, and going into the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 337 

kitchen, related lo the household servants that I had 
fnund a Ijlack nian hun^ in the wootls willi hells 
iij)()n him. This intellii^ence was soon cornnuiiii- 
eated to my master, who sent for me to come into the 
huiHc to relate liie cifcnm^tance to liim. I was 
cnrt'lnl not to l«ll that 1 had i^cvn Paul heforo his 
death; and wlien I had finished my narrative, 
my master ohsrrved lo a gentleman who was with 
him. (hat ihi> was a heavy loss to the owner, and 
told me to go. 

'^riie hody of l*aul was never taken down, hut re- 
mained hanging where I had seen it until the flesh 
fell from the hones, or was torn oH' hy the hirds. I 
saw liie i)ones hamming in the sassafras tree more 
than two months afterwards, and the last time that 
1 wasi-vtr in these swamps. 



CHAPTKll XVII. 

An afl'air was now in progres.-=, which, though the 
persons who were actors in it were far removed from 
me, had in ilselfccts a great inihiencc upon the for- 
tunes of my life. 1 have informed the reader that my 
master had three daughters, and that the second of 
the sisters was deemed a great beauty. The eldest 
of the three was married about the time of whicli I 
now write, to a planter of great wealth, who resided 
near Cokunhia ; but the second had formed aa 
attachment to a young gentleman whom she had 
29 



338 NARRATIVE OF THE 

frequently seen at the church attended by my mas- 
ter's family. As this young man, either from want 
of wealth, or proper persons to introduce him, had 
never been at my master's house, my young mis- 
tress had no opportunity of communicating to him 
the sentiments she entertained towards him, without 
violating the rules of modesty in which she had been 
educated. Before she would attempt any thing 
v/hich might be deemed a violation of the decorum 
of her sex, she determined to take a new method of 
obtaining a husband. She communicated to her 
father, my master, a knowledge of tlie whole affair, 
with a desire that he would invite the gentleman of 
her choice to his house. This the father resolutely 
opposed, upon the ground that the young man upon 
whom his daughter had fixed her heart w^as without 
property, and consequently destitute of the means of 
supporting his daughter in a style suitable to the 
rank she occupied in society. A woman in love is 
not easily foiled in her purposes ; my young mis- 
tress, by continual entreaties, so far prevailed over 
the affections, or more probably the fears of her 
father, that he introduced the young man to his 
family, and about two months afterwards my young 
mistress was a bride ; but it had been agreed 
amongst all the parties, as I understood, before the 
marriage, that as the son-in-law had no land or 
slaves of his own, he should remove with his wife to 
a large tract of land that my master owned in the 
new purchase in the state of Georgia. 

In the month of September, 1806, my master 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 339 

came to tlie quarter one evening, at the tinie of our 
retmn from the field, in cojnpany with his son-in-law, 
and informed me tliat he had given me, with a num- 
ber of otliers of his slaves, to his daughter ; and that 
I, with eight other men and two or three women, 
must set out on the next Sunday with my new mas- 
ter, for his estate in Georgia, whither \vc were to go, 
to clear land, huild houses, and make other im- 
proven^ents, ncccs^^ary for the reception of the lunvly- 
married lady, in the following spring. 

1 was much pleased with the appearai\ce and 
manners of my new master, who was a young man 
apparently about twenty-seven or eight years old, 
and of good figure. Wc were to take with us, in 
our expedition to Georgia, a wagon, to be drawn by 
six mijles, and I was appointed to drive the team. 
Before we set olT my young mistress came in person 
to the quarter, and told us that all those who were 
goiuix to the new settlement must come to the house, 
where she furnished each of us with two full suits of 
clothes, one of coarse woollen, and the other of 
hempen cloth. She also gave a hat to each of us, 
and two pairs of shoes, with a trifle in money, and 
enjoined us to be good boys and girls, and get things 
ready for her, and that when she should come to live 
with us we should not be forgotten. The conduct 
of this young lady was so different from that which 
I had been accustomed to witness since I came to 
Carohna, that I considered myself higlily fortunate 
in iDCComing her slave, and now congratulated my- 
self with the idea that I should, in future, have a 



340 NARRATIVE OF THE 

mistress who would ti eat me kiiidl)' , and if I behav- 
ed well, would not pei mit me to want. 

At the time appointed we set out for Georgia, with 
all the tools and implements necessary to the prose- 
cution of a new settlement. My young master ac- 
companied us, and travelled slowly for several days 
to enable me to keep up with him. Vie continued 
our march in tiiis order until we reached the Savan- 
nali river at the town of Augusta, where m}' mas- 
ter told me that he was so well satisfied with my 
conduct, that he intended to leave me with the team 
to bring on tlie goods and the women and children ; 
but that he would take the men and push on, as fast 
as possible, to the new settlement, and go to work 
until the time of my arrival. He gave me directions 
to follow on and inquire for Morgan county Court 
House, and said that he would have a person ready 
there on my arrival to guide me to him and the peo- 
ple with him. He then gave me twenty dollars to 
buy food for the mules and provisions for myself and 
those with me, and left me on the high road master 
of myself and the tc^am. I was resolved that this 
striking proof of confidence on the part of my master 
should not be a subject of regret to him, and pursued 
my route with the greatest diligence, taking care to 
lay out as little money as possible for such things as 
I had to buy. On the sixth day, in the morning, I 
arrived at our new settlement in the middle of a 
heavy forest of such timber as is common to that 
country, with three dollars and twenty-five cents in 
my pocket, part of the money given to me at Au- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 341 

gusla. This I olTcred to return, but my master re- 
fused to take it, and told me to keep it for my good 
condiict. I now felt assured that all my troubles in 
this world were ended, and that, in future, I might 
look forward to a life of happiness and case; for I 
did not consider labour any hardship, if I was well 
provided with good food and clothes, and my other 
wants properly regarded. 

^\y master, and the peo[)!e who were with him, 
had, before our arrival with the wagon, put up the 
loi^^s of two cabins, and were engageci, when wo 
taint', in covcriug one of them with clapboards. In 
the course of the next day we completf^d Ixitii these 
ca!)ins, with puncheon floors and small glass win- 
dows, the sash and i:lriss for which I had brought in 
th(^ w,ii2:on. ^Vo j)u( up two oilier cabins, and a 
>iab!c f »r the nusles, and then brnan to clear land, 
Af(<;r a lew days, my master told me he meant to go 
down into the settlements to buy provisions for the 
winter, and that he should leave me to oversee the 
hands, and carry on the work in his absence. He 
accordingly left us, taking with him the wagon and 
two boys, one to drive the team, and another to 
drive cattle and hogs, which he intended to buy and 
drive to our settlement. I now felt myself almost 
proprietor of our new establishment, and believe the 
men left under my charge did not consider me a 
very lenient overseer. I in truth compelled them to 
work very hard, as I did myself At the end of a 
week my master returned with a heavy load of meal 
and bacon, with salt and other things that we need^ 
29* 



342 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ed, and the da}^ following a white man drove to our 
station several cows, and more than twenty liogs, 
the greater part of which were breeders. At this 
season of the year neither the hogs nor the cattle re- 
quired any feeding at our hands. The woods were 
full of nuts, and the grass was abundant; but we 
gave salt to our stock, and kept the hogs in a pen, 
two or three days, to accustom them to the place. 

We now lived very differently from what we did 
on my old master's plantation. We had as much 
bacon every day as we ^ould eat ; wliich, together 
with bread and sweet potatoes, which we had at will, 
constituted our fare. My master remained with us 
more than two months ; within which time we had 
cleared forty acres of ground, ready for the plough ; 
but, a few days before Christmas, an event took 
place, which, in its consequences, destroyed all my 
prospects of happiness, and totally changed the fu- 
ture path of my life. A messenger one day came to 
our settlement, with a letter, which had been for- 
warded in this manner, by the postmaster at the 
Court House, where the post-office was kept. Tliis 
letter contained intelligence of the sudden death of 
my old master ; and that difficulties had arisen in 
the family which required the immediate attention 
of my young one. The letter was written by my 
mistress. My master, forthwith, took an account of 
the stock of provisions, and other things that he had 
on hand, and putting the whole under my charge, 
gave me directions to attend to the work, and set off 
on horseback that evening ; promising to return 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 343 

witliin one month at furthest. AVe never saw him 
ai^ain, and heard nothinE^ of him until late in the 
month of January, 1807, when the eldest son of my 
late master came to our settlement, in company with 
a strange gentleman. The son of my hue master 
informetl me, to my suiprise ;ind sorrow, that my 
yomii^ master, who had hrouiihl us to (ieori;ia, was 
dead; and that he and ih.; gentleman with him, 
werr administrators of the deceased, and Iiad come 
to (ieorgia for the pur|x>^e of le'ting out on lease, for 
the period of seven years, our place, with all the peo- 
ple on it, including nic. 

'I'd me. the most distr«;ssing part of this news, 
was the death of njy young master ; and I w as still 
more sorry when I learned, that he had hcen killed 
in a duel. Mv young nuslress, whose heauly had 
drawn around hrr munerous suil«Ms, many of whom 
were mm of l);i-e minds and cowardly hearts, had 
chosrii hrr hu-l)and, in iIh- manner I have related; 
and his former rivals, alter hi- return from Georgia, 
confederated tt)gether, for the dastardly purpose of re- 
venging themselves, of hoih Im.-hand Mud wife, hy 
the Mjiu'der of the former. 

in all parts of the cotton country, tiicre aie nu- 
merous taverns, which answer the douhle purj)os(.'of 
drinking and gambling houses. These places are 
kept hy men who are willing to abandon all preten- 
sions to the character and standing of gentlemen, for 
the hope of sordid gain; and are frecpiented hy all 
classes of planters ; though it is not to be understood, 
that all the planters resort to these houses. Tiiere 



344 NARRATIVE OF THE 

are men of high and honourable virtue amongst the 
planters, who equally detest the mean cupidity of 
the men who keep these houses, and the silly wick- 
edness of those who support them. Billiards is the 
game regarded as the most polite, amongst men of 
education and fashion ; but cards, dice, and every 
kind of game, whether of skill or of hazard, are 
openly pla3'ed in these sinks of iniquity. So far as 
my knowledge extends, there is not a single district 
of ten miles square, in all the cotton region, without 
at least one of these vile ordinaries, as they are fre- 
quently and justly termed. The keeping of these 
houses is a means of subsistence resorted to by men of 
desperate reputation, or. reckless character ; and they 
invite, as guests, all the profligate, the drunken, the 
idle, and the unwary of the surrounding country. 
In a community, where the white man never works, 
except at the expense of forfeiting all claim to the 
rank of a gentleman, and where it is beneath the 
dignity of a man, to oversee the labour of his own 
plantation, the number of those who frequent these 
gaming houses, may be imagined. 

My young master, fortunately for his own honour, 
was of those who kept aloof from the precincts of the 
tavern, unless compelled by necessary business to go 
there ; but the band of conspirators, who had resolv- 
ed on his destruction, invited him through one of 
their number, who pretended to wish to treat with 
him concerning his property, to meet them at an or- 
dinary, one evening. Here a quarrel was sought 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 345 

witli him, and he was challonired to fight with pis- 
toI<. over the tal)le around which they sat. 

My master, who, it appears, was iinal^le to hear 
tlic reproacli of cowardice, even amonij^st fools, 
agreed to figlit ; and as he had no pi-tols witli him, 
was presented with a pair hcloiiiiinu to one of tlic 
gang; iii\<\ acc<'pted their owner, as his friend, or 
second in the business. The result was as niiglit 
liave l)een exjx^cted. My master was killed, at the 
fust lire, hy a hall wliich passed ihiough his jjreast, 
whilst hi-^ antagonist e.scaped unharmeil. 

A servant was immed alely despatched, with a let- 
ter to my mistress, informing iier of the death of her 
hushand. She was awakened in the night, to read 
the letter, the hearer having informed h(^r maid that 
it was necessary for her to see it immediately. The 
shock drove her into a feverish delirium, from whicli 
slie never recovnred. At periods, her reason resumed 
it< (loiiiiiiinii : liui ill tlir -iitiiinrr f(»l|()\\ ing, she l)e- 
came a mother, and died in child-hed, of |)uerperal 
fev«'r. I ohtained this account from the mouth ofa 
hiack man, who was tin- travelling servatit of the 
eldest son of my old master, and wlio was with his 
master at the time he came to visit the tenant, to 
whom he let his sister's estate in Georgia, in the 
year 1 807. 

The estate to which I was now attached, was ad- 
vertised to be rented for the term of seven years, with 
all the stock of mules, cattle, and so forth, upon it — 
together with seventeen slaves, six of whom were 
too young to be able to work at present. The price 



346 NARRATIVE OP THE 

asked, was one thousand dollars for the first year, 
and two thousand dollars for each of the six succeed- 
ing years ; the tenant to be bound to clear thirty 
acres of land annually. 

Before the day on which the estate was to be let, 
by the terms of the advertisement, a man came up 
from the neighbourhood of Savannah, and agreed to 
take the new plantation, on the terms asked. He 
was immediately put intop ossession of the premises, 
and from this moment, I became his slave for the 
term of seven years. 

Fortune had now thrown me into the power of a 
new master, of whom, when I considered the part 
of the country from whence he came, which had al- 
ways been represented to me, as distinguished for 
the cruelty with which slaves were treated in it, I 
had no reason to expect much that was good. I had 
indeed, from the moment I saw this new master, and 
had learned the place of his former residence, made 
up ni}^ mind to prepare myself for a harsh servitude ; 
but as we are often disappointed for the worse, so it 
sometimes happens, that we are deceived for the bet- 
ter. This man was by no means so bad as I was 
prepared to find him ; and yet, 1 experienced all the 
evils in his service, that I had ever apprehended : 
but I could never find in my lieart, to entertain a re- 
vengeful feeling towards him, for he was as much a 
slave as 1 was ; and I believe of the two, the greater 
sufferer. Perhaps the evils he endured himself, 
made him more compassionate of the sorrows of 
others ; but notwithstanding the injustice that was 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 347 

done me while with liim, 1 could never look upon 
him as a bad man. 

At the time he took possession of the estate, he 
wa? alone, and did not let us know that he had a 
wif«'. until after he had been with us. at least two 
weeks. One day, however, he called us together, 
and told us that he was going down the country, to 
hriuLT up I'i^ family — that he wishixl us to go on 
wiili tilt; work on the place in tlio manner lie point- 
ed nut ; and tcllinLT the rest of the liands that they 
must obey my orders, he left us. lie was gone full 
two weeks; and when he returnod, T had all the 
cleared land planted in cotton, corn, and sweet pota- 
toes, and had progressed with the business of the 
plantation so much to his satisfaction, that he gave 
me a dollar, with which I bought a pair of new trou- 
pers — my old ones having been worn out in clearing 
the new land, and burning logs. 

My master's family, a wife and one cliild, came 
with liim ; and my new mistress soon caused me to 
regret the d»«ath of my former young master, for other 
reasons, than those of afVection and esteem. 

This woman (though she was my mistress, I can- 
not call her lady) was the daughter of a very wealthy 
planter, who resided near Milledgeville, and had sev- 
eral children, besides my mistress. My master was 
a native of North Carolina — had removed to Georgia 
several years before this — had acquired some proper- 
ty, and was married to my mistress more than two 
years, when I became his slave, for a term of years 
as I have stated. I saw many families, and was 



348 NARRATIVE OF THE 

acquainted with the moral character of many ladies, 
while 1 lived in the south ; but I must, in justice to 
the country, say, that my new mistress was the 
worst woman I ever saw amongst the southern peo- 
ple. Her temper was as bad as that of a speckled 
viper ; and her language, when she was enraged, 
was a mere vocabulary of profanity and virulence. 

My master and mistress brought with them when 
they came, twelve slaves, great and small, seven of 
whom were able to do field work. We now had on 
our new place, a very respectable force ; and my 
master was a man, who understood the means of 
procuring a good day's work from his hands, as well 
as any of his neighbours. He was also a man who, 
when left to pursue his own inclinations, was kind 
and humane in his temper, and conduct towards his 
people ; and if lie had possessed courage enougli, to 
whip his wife two or three times, as he sometimes 
whipped his slaves, and to compel her to observe a 
rule of conduct befitting her sex, I shoukl have had 
a tolerable time of my servitude with him ; and 
should, in all probabilit}^, have been a slave in Geor- 
gia until this day. Before my mistress came, w^e 
had meat in abundance ; for my master had left his 
keys with me, and I dealt out the provisions to the 
people. 

Lest my master should comi)lain of me at his 
return, or suspect that I had not been faithful to my 
trust, I had only allowed ourselves (for 1 fared in 
common with the others) one meal of meat in each 
day. We had several cows, that supplied us with 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 



319 



milk, anrl a hnrrol of inMassp-; was ainnn<j:?t the 
stores of provi-^ions. We had uuish, sweet potatoes, 
inilk, molasses, and sometimes l)atler for breakfast 
and supper, and meat for dinner. Had we heen 
prrniiited to enjoy this line fare, after the arrival of 
onr mi«;tress, and had she l)een a woman of kindly 
disposition, and lady like manners, I should have 
con-idcrcd myself well o(V in the world ; for I was 
now livini^ in as gixxl a country as I ever saw ; and 
I nmrh doul)t if llierc w a lietter one anywhere. 

Our mistrrs-; jjave us a sjierimen of her character, 
on the first morniii'4 after her arrival amonirst us, by 
l^eatinif severely, with a raw cow-hide, the black f^irl 
who nnrst'd the infafit, l)ecause the child cried, and 
could not Im- kept silent. I [vrceived by this, that 
my nustres,^ posscsstnl no control over Ihm prissions; 
and that, when enra«^ed, she would lind some victim 
to pour ln;r furv upon, wiihoul rt ^^nd to justice or 
mircy. 

When wewerecallel to ilinmir today, we had no 
meat, and a very short supply of bread; our meal, 
beinu^ composriil of badly cooked sweet jwtatoeg, 
some bread, and a very small (|uantity of sour milk. 
From this time our allowance of meat was wiih- 
dni All from us altoi^elher, and we had Jo live; upon 
our bread, potatoes, and the little nulk that our niig- 
tre-;s p/rmiited us to h ive. The most vexatious part 
of ili3 n nv di-5cipl!U3, was th'^ distinction that was 
made between u-, who were on the plantation before 
our mistress came to it, and the slav(;s that she 
brou^TJit with her. To these latter, she gave the best 
30 



350 NARRATIVE OF THE 

part of the sour milk, all the buttermilk, and 1 be- 
lieve, frequently rations of meat. 

We were not on our part (I mean us of the old 
stock) wholly w^ithout meat, for our master some- 
times gave us a whole llilch of bacon at once ; this 
he had stolen from his own smoke-house — I say 
stolen, because he took it without the knowledge of 
my mistress, and always charged us in the most so- 
lemn manner not to let her know that we had re- 
ceived it. She was as negligent of the duties of a 
good housewife, as she vvas arrogant in assuming the 
control of things not within the sphere of her domes- 
tic duties, and never missed the bacon that our mas- 
ter gave to us, because she had not taken the trouble 
of examining the state of the meat-house. Obtain- 
ing all the meat we ate by stealth, through our mas- 
ter, our supplies were not regular, coming once or 
twice a-weck, according to circumstances. How- 
ever, as I was satisfied of the good intentions of my 
master- towards me, I felt interested in his welfare, 
and in a short time became warmly attached to 
him. He fared but httle better at the hands of my 
mistress than I did, except that as he ate at the 
same table with her, he always had enough of com- 
fortable food ; but in llie matter of ill language, I 
believe my master and I might safely have put our 
goods together as a joint stock in trade, without 
either the one or the other being greatly the loser. 
I had secured the good opinion of my master, and 
it was perceivable by any one that he had more 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 351 

confidence in me than in any of hi;=! other slaves, and 
oilen treated nie as the foreman of hid people. 

Thi:^ aroused the indignation of my mistress, who, 
with all her ill qualities, retjiined a sort of selfish 
esteem for the slaves who had come with her from 
her father'a estate. She seldom saw me without 
^ivimr me her customary salutation of profanity; 
and she exceeded all other jx-rsons that I have ever 
known in the quickness and sarcasm of the jibes 
and jeers with which she seasoned her oaths. To 
form any fair conception of lier volubility and scur- 
rilotis wi', it was necessary to hear her, more espe- 
cially on Sundny morning or a rainy day, when the 
people were all loitering alx)Ut the kitchens, which 
Btoud close rouu I her dwelling. She treated my 
master with no more ceremony than she did mo. 
Misery loves company, it is said, and I verily believe 
that mv master and 1 felt a mutual attachment OQ 
account of our mutual sulTerings. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The country I now lived in was new, and alx)und- 
ed with every sort of game common to a new settle- 
ment. Wages were high, and I could sometimes 
earn a dollar and a half a day by doing job work 
on Sunday. The price of a day's work here was a 
dollar. My master paid me regularly and fairly for 
all the work I did for him on Sunday, and 1 never 



352 NARRATIVE OF THE 

went anywhere else to procure work. All bis other 
hands w^ere treated in the same way. lie also gave 
me an old gun that had seen. much hard service, 
for the stock was quite shattered to pieces, and the 
lock would not strike fire. I took my gun to a 
blacksmith in the neigbbourhood, and he repaired 
the lock, so that my musket was as sure fire as any 
piece need be. I found upon trial, that though the 
stock and lock had been worn out, the barrel was 
none the worse for the service it had undergone. 

I now, for the first time in my life, became a 
hunter, in the proper sense of the word ; and gene- 
rally managed njy allairs in such a way as to get 
the half of Saturday to myself. This 1 did by pre- 
vailing on my master to set my task for the week on 
Monday morning. 

Saturday w^as appropriated to hunting, if T was 
not obliged to work all day. and I soon became pretty 
expert in the use of my gun. I made salt licks in 
the woods, to which the deer came, at night, and I 
shot them from a seat of clapboards that was pkiced 
on the branches of a tree. Rackoons abounded 
here, and were of a large size, and fat at all seasons. 
In the montb of April I saw the ground tbickly 
strewed with nuts, the growth of the last year. I 
now began to bve well, notwithstanding tlie perse- 
cution that my mistress still directed against me, and 
to feel myself, in some measure, an independent 
man. 

Serpents of various kinds swarmed in tbis coun- 
try. I have killed more than tw^enty rattle-snakes 



ADVEXTURK3 OF CHARLES BALL. 353 

in a day, and copper-heads were innumerable ; but 
the snake that I most dreaded was the nioccaj?on, 
which is quite as venomous as the copper-head or 
rattlesnake, and much more active and mahcious. 
Vi[)ers and other poisonous reptiles were innumera- 
ble; and in the swamps was a monstrous ser|)ont, 
thotic^h of rare occurrence, which was really danger- 
ous on accoimt of its pro(H£(iou3 size. This snrikc 
is of a brown c/)Iour, with ashy white sjk)Is distribut- 
ed over its Ixnly. It lives by catching rabl)ils and 
8(iiiirreU, rackoons and other animals. I have no 
doubt that some of this species would attack and 
swallow childie.M several years old. I once shot one 
of these snakes that was mi>r<" thnu eight feet long, 
and n< thick as the leg of an t)rdinary man. WImmi 
coilrd uj) it appeared as large as a small calf lying 
in it** resting place. Panthers, wolves, and other 
licasts of prey, were common in the wo(k1s. 

I had always ol)served that snakes congregate, 
either in large groups or in pairs; and that if one 
snake is killed, another is soon after seen near the 
same place. I one day killed an enormous rattle- 
snake in the cotton field near my master's house. 
This snake was full six feet in length, of a corres- 
ponding thickness, and had fangs an inch and three- 
quarter^ in length. ^Vhen dead, I skinned it, and 
stretched the skin on a board. A few days after, hav- 
ing occasion to cross a fence near where I had killed 
the largesnake, and jumping from the top of the fence 
upon the ground, without looking down, I alighted 
close beside another rattle-snake, (juite as large as the 
30* 



354 NARRATIVE OF THE 

one I had killed. This one was lying at full length, 
and I was surprised that it did not attempt to bite me, 
nor even to tliiow itself into coil. It only sounded 
its rattles, making a noise sufficiently loud to be 
heard a hundred yards. I killed tbis snake also, 
and seeing it appear to be full of something that it 
had eaten, 1 ripped it open with my knife, and found 
the whole cavity of its body stuffed full of corn meal 
tliat it had eaten in the house where my master kept 
his stores, to which it iiad found access through some 
aperture in the logs of tbe house. The snake was 
so full of meal tbat it could not coil itself, and thus 
saved my life, for the bite of such a snake as this 
was, is almost certain death. 1 knew a white man, 
some time al"terv/ard>:, wlio was bitten by one of 
these large rattlesnakes in tbe hand, as he was try- 
ing to punch it to death with a stick in a hollow 
stump, and he died before he could be taken to his 
own h !use, which was little more than a mile from 
the place wbere he was bitten. 

A neighbour of my master was one day hunting 
deer in tbe woods with hounds ; and hearing one of 
his hounds cry out as if hurt by sometbing, the gen- 
tleman proceeded to tlie spot, and found his dog 
lying in the agonies of death, and a great rattle- 
snake near bim. On examining tbe dog. it was 
found tbat the snake had struck him w ith its fangs 
in the side, and cut a deep gash in tbe skin. The 
dog being heated with running, death ensued almost 
instantly. 

1 had a dog of my own which 1 had brought with 



ADVENTURES OF CFIARLES BALL. 355 

me from Carolina, ami wliich was an excellent 
huiiiin^ dog. He would tree racktwns and bears, 
and chase deer, and was so faithful, that I liioii^rjit 
he would lose his life, if necessary, in my defence; 
hut ih^fj^fi, like nirn, h.ive a certain limit, heyond 
which their fnendshi}) will not carry them, at least 
it was so with my d<»«j". 

iJeini,^ in ih*- wo<kIs one Sunday, at a place called 
the cT,)ose-[Kind, a shallow |xh)I of water to whi( h 
wild ;^eesi' rexirteil, my d<»g came out of the cane to 
me, with his hrisiles raised and showing by liis 
conduct that he had seen somelhini^ in the canes of 
which he was afiaid. 1 had gone to the (xnid that 
day for the |)ur|H)se of cutting and putting into ihc 
water some sticks of a tree that grows in that part 
of (Jeorgia. of whiih very good ro[X!s can be made. 
The timljer is cut and thrown into the water uniil 
the hark becomes s<»ft and l«M>se, and it is then peel- 
ed oir, iMjaten, and split to pieces; and of this bark 
ro|)es can be made nearly ecjual to hemp(Mi ropes. 
I got a good deal i^l' money by making ropes of this 
hark and selliu'j tbem. At the time I speak of I 
had my axe with me. but was without my gun. I 
endeavoured in vain to induce my dog to enter into 
the cane-brake, and started on my way home, my 
dog keof^ing a little in advance of me and fre(|uently 
looking back. 1 had not proceeded far before the 
cause of my dogs alarm became manifest. Look- 
ing behind me, I saw a huge panther creeping along 
the path after me, in the manner that a cat creeps 
when steahng upon her prey. I felt myself in dan- 



356 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ger, and again endeavoured to urge my dog to at- 
tack the panther, but I could not prevail on him to 
place himself between me and the wild beast. I 
stood still for some time, and the panther lay down 
on the ground, still, however, looking attentively 
at me. When I again moved forward, the panther 
moved after me ; and when I stopped and turned 
round, it stopped also. In this way I proceeded, 
alternately advancing and halting, with the pan- 
ther sometimes within twenty steps of me, until I 
came in view of my master's clearing, when the 
panther turned off into the woods, and 1 saw it no 
more. I do not know whether this panther was in 
pursuit of me or my dog ; but whether of the one or 
the other, it showed but little fear of both of us ; and 
I believe that, if alone, it would not have hesitated 
to attack either of us. As soon as the panther dis- 
appeared I went home and told my master of my 
adventure. He sent immediately to the house of a' 
gentleman who lived two miles distant, who came, 
and brought his dogs with him. These dogs, when 
joined to my master's made five in number. I went 
to the woods, and showed the place where the pan- 
ther had left me, and the dogs immediately scented 
the trail. It was then late in the evening, and the 
chase was continued until near day-break the next 
morning, wdien tlie panther w^as forced to take a 
tree ten miles from my master's house. It was shot 
by my master with his rifle, and after it was dead, 
we measured it, from the end of the nose to the tip 



ADVENTURE3 OF CHARLES BALL. 357 

of the tail, and fouiul tlie wliolc lengili to l>e eleven 
feet and ten inches. 

In the full of this year I wvnt with my ina>tor to 
the Inchan country, to purchase and l)nn«r to tlic 
settlement cattle and Indian horses. We travelled 
a hunilrcd miles from the residence of my master, 
nearly we^t, before we came to any Indian viliauc. 

Therounlrv where the Indians lived was similar 
in soil and profhiciions lo that in which my master 
hadsrtilrrl ; and I saw several fields of corn amongst 
the Indian- of excellent (juality, and well enclosed 
with siiljsiantial fences. I also saw amoni^st these 
people several lo'^r-hmises, with stpiarr h.-wn logs. 
Some colton was i^ro^ving in small palchcs in (he 
fields, hut this plant was not extensively cultivated. 
Large herds of cattle were ranging in th«; woods, 
and cost their owners nnthing for their keeping ex- 
cept a small (juantity of salt. These cattle were of 
the S|xinish hreed, generally speckled, hut olten of 
a dim or mouse colour, and sometimes of a leaden 
gray. They universally had long horns, and dark 
muzzles, and stood hiirh on their leu;s, with elevated 
and bold fronts. Wlieii ranging in droves in the 
woods, they were the fmest cattle in appearance that 
I ever saw. They make oxcellenl working oxen, 
but their quarters are not so heavy and tlesh)i as 
those of the English cattle. The cows do not give 
large (juantities of milk. 

The Indian horses run at large in the woods like 
the catde, and receive no feed from their owners, un- 
less on some very extraordinary occasion. Tliey are 



358 NARRATIVE OF THE 

small, but very handsome little horses. I do not 
know that I ever saw one of these horses more than 
fourteen hands high ; but they are very strong and 
active, and when brought upon the plantation, and 
broken to work, they are hardy and docile, and keep 
fat on very little food. The prevailing colour of these 
horses is black ; but many of them are beautiful 
grays, with flovvnng manes and tails, and, of their 
size, are fine horses. 

My master bought fifty horses, and more than a 
hundred of the cattle ; and hired seven Indians, to 
help us to drive them inio the settlement. We 
had only a path to travel in — no road having been 
opened to the Indian country, of width sufficient for 
wagons to pass upon it ; and I was often surprised 
at the agility of the Indians, in riding the unbroken 
horses along this palb, and through the cane-brakes, 
which lined it on either side, in pursuit of the cattle, . 
when any of them attempted to leave the drove. 
With the horses we had but little trouble, after we 
had them once staited on the path ; but the cattle were 
much inclined to separate and wander in the woods, 
for several days after we set out from the Nation, — 
but the greatest trouble was experienced at the time 
we halted in the evening, for the night. Some of 
the cattle, and many of the horses, would wander 
off from the fire, to a great distance in the woods, if 
not prevented ; and might attempt to return to the 
Indian country. To obviate this, as soon as the fire 
was kindled, and the Indians had taken their supper, 
they would take off into the woods in all directions. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 359 

and, stationing themselves at the dL^tance of about 
half a quarter of a mile from the lire, would set up such 
a horrible yelling and whooping, that the wliole forest 
appeared to be full of demons, come to devour U3 
and our drove too. This noise never failed to cause 
l)<)th horse and cattle to keep within the circle formed 

V the Indians ; and I believe wo did not lose a sin- 
gle beast on llie whole journey. 

My ma-ter k«pt many of the cattle, and several 

f the horses, which he used on the planUition, in- 
stead of niulcs. The ri'sidue he sold amoMLT the 
planters, and 1 U-liove the expedition \ ielded him a 
handsome profit in tin' end : it also anordcd me an 
opporiunity uf seeing the Chorokee Imlian.i; in their 
uwn^ country, and of contrasting the unmense diller- 

nce that existii between man in a state of civiliza- 
tion and industry, and man in a suilc of barbarism 
and indolence. 

Ever since I had Ijoen in the souilinn country, 

ist numbers of African negroes had been yearly 
.-npvjrtrd ; but this yc;ir the business ceased altoge- 
ther, and I did not see any African who was landed 
in the United Stales after this dale. 

1 shall here submit to the reader, the results of the 
observations 1 have made on the regulations of 

)uthcrn society. It is juy opinion, that the white 
people in general, are not nearly so well informed 
in the southern states, as they are in those lying 
farther north. The cause of this may not be 
obvious to strangers ; but to a man who has resided 
amongst the cotton plantations, it is quite plain. 



360 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Tliere is a great scarcity of schools, throughout all 
the cotton country, that I have seen ; because the 
white population is so thinly scattered over the coun- 
try, and the families hve so far apart, that it is not 
easy to get a sufficient number of children together 
to constitute a scliool. The young men of the coun- 
try, who have received educations proper to qualify 
them for the profession of teachers, are too proud to 
submit to this kind of occupation ; and strangers, 
who come from the north, will not engage in a ser- 
vice that is held in contempt, unless they can procure 
large salaries from individuals, or get a great number 
of pupils to attend their instructions, whose united 
contributions may amount, in the aggregate, to a 
large sum. 

Great numbers of the young men of fortune are 
sent abroad to be educated : but thousands of the 
sons of land and slave-holders receive very little edu- 
cation, and pass their lives in ignorant idleness. The 
poor white children are not educated at all. It is 
my opinion, that the women are not better educated 
than the men. 

A few of the great families live in a style of luxu- 
ry and magnificence on their estates, that people 
in the north are not accustomed to witness ; but 
this splendour is made up of crowds of slaves, em- 
ployed as household servants, and a gaudy show of 
silver plate, rather than in good houses, or convenient 
furniture. Good beef and good mutton, such as are 
seen in Philadelphia and New-York, are not known 
on the cotton plantations. Good butter is also a 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 361 

larity ; and, in the summer time, sweet flour, or 
sweet wheaten bread, is scarcely to be looked for. 
The flour is imported from the north, or west • 
and in tlie hot, damp climate of the southern sum- 
mer, It cannot l)e kept from sourini^, more than foui 
or five weeks. 

The tenifier of my mistress grew worse daily- if 
that could grow worse, which was already as l)ad as 
it could l)c — and her enmity acrain^t me increased 
the more she olwerved that my master confided in 
me. To enhance my mi^fortime^ the hcaldi of my 
mxster began, alhiut this iim.\ vi>^il)|y to dcnrline, and 
towards the latter end of the aiihiiiiii of this year, he 
one day told m.-, lint hr Ix-Iievrd he should not live 
long, as h.3 already \\'.\\ ilu' s\ m.dIoio^- of approaching 
decay and death. 

Tliis was a source of much anxiety and trouble to 
me ; for 1 clearly foresaw, that if ever I fell under 
the unbridled dominion of my mistress, I should re- 
gret the worst |)eriod of my servitude in South Caro- 
lina. I was much afraid, as the winter came on, 
that my master might grow worse, and pass to the 
grave in the spring, for his disease was a consump- 
tion of the lungs ; and it is well known, that the 
spring of the year, which brings joy, gladness, and 
viuility, to all creation, animate and inanimate, ex- 
cept the victim of consumption, is often the season 
that consigns him to the grave. 



31 



362 NARRATIVE OF THE 



CHAPTER XIX. 



We passed this winter in clearing land, after we 
had secured the crops of cotton and corn, and 
nothing happened on our plantation, to disturb the 
usual monotony of the life of a slave, except, that in 
the month of January, my master informed me, that 
he intended to go to Savannah for the purpose of 
purchasing groceries, and such other supplies as 
might be required on the plantation, in the follow- 
ing season ; and that he intended to take down a 
load of cotton with our wagon and team ; and that 
I must prepare to be the driver. This intelligence 
was not disagreeal^le to me, as the trip to Savan- 
nah would, in the first place, release me for a short 
time, from the tyranny of my mistress ; and, in the 
second, would give me an opportunity of seeing a 
great deal of strange country. I derived a third 
advantage, in after times, from this journey ; but 
which did not enter into my estimate of this affair, at 
that time. 

My master had not yet erected a cotton-gin en his 
place— the land not being his own— and we hauled 
our cotton, in the seed, nearly three miles to be gin- 
ned, for which we had to give one-fourth to the 
owner of the gin. 

When the time of my departure came, 1 loaded 
my wagon widi ten bales of cotton, and set out with 
the same team of six mules that 1 had driven from 
South CaroUna. Nothing of moment happened to 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLFS BALL. 363 

nie until the cveniFi^r of tlic fourth day, when wo 
were one hundred miles from home. My master 
stopped to-nij^hl (for he travelled with me on his hor?e) 
at the house of an old friend of his ; and I heard my 
master, in conversation with this gentleman, (for 
such he certainly was) give me a very good charac- 
ter, and tell liitn, that I was (he most faitlilul nnd 
trusty negro that he had ever owned. lie also ^aid 
that if he lived to see tiie e\-[)iration of the seven 
years for wliich lio h:ul lea-^rd inr^, he intended to 
huy me. Hesaiil nnich more t)f me ; an<l fthoiight 
I heard him tell his friend somefhing about my mis- 
tress, hut this was spoken in a low tone of voice, and 
I could not distinctly understand it. When I was 
going away in the morning with my team, this gen- 
tleman came out to the wagon, and ordered one of 
iiis own slaves to help me to put the harness on 
my mules. At oarting, he told mo to stop at liis 
house on my return, and stay all night; and said, 
I should always be welcome to the use of his kit- 
chen, if it should ever be my lot to travel that wny 
again. 

I mention these trifles to show, that if there arc 
hard and cruel masters in the «outh, there are also 
others of a contrary character. The slave-holders are 
neither more nor less than men, some of whom arc 
good, and very many are bad. My master and this 
gentleman, were certainly of the number of the good ; 
but the contrast between them and some others that 
I have seen, was. unhappily for many of the slaves, 
very great. I shall, hereafter, refer to this gentle- 



364 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



man, at whose house I now was ; and shall never 
name him without honour, nor think of him without 
gratitude. 

As I travelled through the country with my team, 
my chief employment, beyond my duty of a team- 
ster, was to observe the condition of the slaves on 
the various plantations by which we passed on cur 
journey, and to compare things in Georgia, as 1 now 
saw them, witli similar things in Carolina, as I had 
heretofore seen them. 

There is as much sameness amongst the various 
cotton plantations, in Georgia, as there is amongst 
the various farms in New- York, or New- Jersey. He 
who has seen one cotton field, has seen all other 
cotton fields, bating the diflference that nalurally 
results from good and bad soils, or good and bad cul- 
ture ; but the coJ]trast that prevails in the treatment 
of the slaves, on diflerent plantations, is very remark- 
able. We travelled a road that was not well provided 
with public houses, and we frequently stopped for 
the night at the private dwellings of the planters ; 
and I observed that my master was received as a 
visiter, and treated as a friend in the family, whilst I 
was always left at the road with my wagon, my iflas- 
ter supplying me with money to buy food for myself 
and my mules. 

It was my practice, when we remained all night 
at these gentlemen's houses, to go to the kitchen in 
the evening, after I had fed my mules and eaten my 
supper, and pass some time in conversation with the 
black people I might chance to find there. One 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 365 

evening", we halted before sundown, and I unhitch- 
ed my niules at the road, about two hundred yards 
from tfie house of a planter, to which my master 
went to claim hospitality for himself. 

After I had disposed of my team for the night, 
and taken my supper, I went as usual to see the 
people of colour in the kitchen, l.telonging to this 
plantation. The sun had just sot when I reached 
the kitchen, and soon afterwards, a black boy came 
in and told the woman who was tlie only person in 
the kitchen when I came to it. that she must go 
down to the overseer's house. She immediately 
started, in obedience to tfiis order, and not choosing 
to remain alone in a strange house, f concluded to 
follow the woman, and sec the other people of 
this estate. When wc reached the hoiise of the 
overseer, the coloured people were coming in from 
the field, and \Tiili them came the overseer, and 
anoth'T man, better dressed than overseers usually 
are. 

I stood at some distance from these gentlemen, not 
thinking it prudent to be too forward amongst 
strangers. The black people were all called toge- 
ther, and the overseer told them, that some one of 
them had stolen a fat hog from the pen, carried it to 
the woods, and there killed and dressed it ; that he 
had 'that day found the place where the hog had 
been slaughtered, and that if they did not confess, 
and tell who the perpetrators of this theft were, they 
would all be whipped in the severest manner. To 
this threat, no other reply was made than a univer- 
31* 



3^6 NARRATIVE OF THE 

sal assertion of the innocence of the accused. They 
were aUthen ordered to he down upon the ground, 
and expose their backs, to which the overseer ap- 
pUed the thong of his long whip, by turns, until he 
was weary. It was fortunate for these people, that 
they were more than twenty in number, which pre- 
vented the overseer from inflicting many lashes on 
any one of them. 

When the whole number had received, each in 
turn, a share of the lash, the overseer returned to the 
man, to whom he had first applied the whip, and 
told him he was certain tliat he knew who stole the 
hog; and that if he did not tell who the thief was, 
he would whip him all night. He then again ap- 
plied the whip to the back of this man, until the blood 
flowed copiously ; but the suflerer hid his face in his 
hands, and said not a word.. The other gentleman 
then asked the overseer, if he was confident this man 
had stolen the pig ; and, receiving an alfiruiative 
answer, he said he would make the fellow confess 
the truth, if he would follow his directions. He then 
asked the overseer if he had ever tried cat- hauling, 
upon an obstinate negro : and was told that this 
punishment had been heard of, but never practised 
on this plantation. 

A boy was then ordered to get up, run to the 
house, and bring a cat, which was soon produced. 
The cat, which was a large gray tom-cat, was then 
taken by the well-dressed gentleman, and placed 
upon the bare back of the prostrate black man, near 
the shoulder, and forcibly dragged by the tail down 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 367 

the back, and along the bare thiirhs of the sufferer. 
The cat sunk his nails into the llc?h, and tore off 
pieces of the skin with his teeth. The man roared 
with the pain of this punislunont, and would have 
rolled along the ground, had he not been held in his 
place by the force of four other slaves, each one of 
whom confmed a hand or a foot. As soon as the 
cat was drawn from him, the man said he would 
tell who stole the hour, ^md confessed that he and 
several others, throe of w liom w«.'re then holding him, 
had stolen the hog — killed, dressr<i, and eaten it. In 
relurn for this confession, the overseer said he should 
have another touch of the cat, which was again 
drawn along his back, not as before, from the head 
downwards, but from below the hij^s to the head. 
TIk; man wa.s then permitted to rise, and each of 
those who had been named by him as a participator 
in stealing the liog, was comj)elled to lie down, and 
have the cat twice drawn along his back ; first down- 
wards, and then upwards. After the termination of 
this punishment, each of the sufVerers was washed 
with salt water, by a black woman, and they were 
then all dismissed. This was the most excruciating 
punishment that I ever saw inflicted on black peo- 
ple, and, in my opinion, it is very dangerous; for 
the claws of the cat are poisonous, and wounds made 
by them are very subject to inflammation. 

During all this time, 1 had remained at the dis- 
tance of fifty yards from the place of punishment, 
fearing either to advance or retreat, lest I too, might 
excite the indignation of these sanguinary judges. 



36S NARRATIVE OF THE 

After the business was over, and my feelings became 
a little more composed, I thought the voice of the 
gentleman, in good clothes, was familiar to me ; but 
I could not recollect who he was, nor where I had 
heard his voice, until the gentlemen at length left 
this place, and went towards the great house, and 
as they passed me, I recognized in the companion of 
the overseer, my old master, the negro trader, who 
had bought me in Maryland, and brought me to 
CaroHna. 

I afterwards learned from my master, that this 
man had formerly been engaged in the African 
slave-trade, which he had given up some years be- 
fore, for the safer and less arduous business of buying 
negroes in the north, and bringing them to the south, 
as articlesof merchandise, in which he had acquired 
a very respectable fortune — had lately married in a 
wealthy family, in this part of the country, and was 
a great planter. 

Two days after this, we reached Savannah, 
where my master sold his cotton, and piircliased a 
wagon load of sugar, molasses, coffee, shoes, dry 
goods, and such articles as we stood in need of at 
home ; and on the next day after I entered the city, 
I again left it, and directed my course up the coun- 
try. In Savannah I saw many black men. who 
were slaves, and who yet acted as freemen so far, 
that they went out to work, v/here and with whom 
they pleased, received their own wages, and provided 
their own subsistence; but were obliged to pay a 
certain sum at the end of each week to their masters. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 369 

One of these men toUl me, thai lie paid six dollars 
on every Saturday eveninrr, to liis master ; and yet 
he was comfortably dressed, and appeared to live 
well. Savannah was a very busy place, and I saw 
vast (juantities of cotton, piled up on the wharves ; 
but the ap|>earanceof the town itself, was not much 
in favour of the peoplr who livrd in it. 

On my way home I travelled for several day^'. 
by a road dilfcrent from that which we had pursued 
in coming down ; and at the distance of fifty or sixty 
miles from Savannah, I pas-cd by the lari^est plan- 
tation that I had ever seen. I think I saw at least 
a thousand acres of cotton in one field, which was 
all as level as a bowlini,^-:rrcen. There were, as I 
wa-s told, three hundred and fifty hands at work in 
this field, pickiui^^ the last of the cotton from the 
burs; and these were the most miserable looking 
Klaves that 1 had seen in all my travels. 

It was now the depth of winter, and altlioujjh the 
weather was not cold, yet it was the winter of this 
climate; and a man who lives on flic Savannah 
river a few years, will find himself almost as much 
oppressed with cold, in winter there, ns he would be 
in the same season of the year, on the banks of the 
Potomac, if he had always resided there. 

These people were, as far as I could see, totally 
without shoes ; and there was no such garment as 
a hat of any kind amongst them. Each person had 
a coarse blanket, which had holes cut for the arms 
to pass through, and^ the top was drawn up round 
the neck, so as to form a sort of loose frock, tied be- 



370 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



fore with strings. The arms, when the people were 
at work, were naked, and some of them had very 
little clothing of any kind, besides this blanket frock. 
The appearance of these people, afforded the most 
conclusive evidence that they were not eaters of 
pork; and that lent lasted with them throughout 
the year. 

I again staid all night, as I went home, with the 
gentleman whom I liave before noticed, as the frie-d 
of my master, who had left me soon after we quitted 
Savannah, and 1 saw him no more, until I reached 
home. 

Soon after my return from Savannah, an affair 
of a very melancholy character took ploce in the 
neiglibouihood of my master's plantation. About 
two miles from our rc-iJence, lived a gentleman who 
was a bachelor, and who had for his housekeeper a 
mulatto woman. Tlie master was a young man, 
r.ot more than tvrenty-five 3^ears old, and the house- 
keeper must have been at least forty. She had 
children grown up, one cf whom had been sold by 
her master, the father of the bachelor, since I lived 
here, and carried away to the west. Tliis woman 
had acquired a most unaccoimtable influence over 
her young master, who lived with her as his wife, 
and gave her the entire comnsand of his house, and 
of every thing about it. Before he came to live 
wliere he now did, and whilst he still resided with 
his father, to whom the woman then belonged, the 
old gentleman perceiving the attachment of his son 
to this female, had sold her to a trader, who was on 



ADVENTURKS OF CHARLES BALL. 371 

his way to the Mississippi river, in ihc al).-once of the 
yomiir man ; hut when the latter returned home, 
and learned what had been done, he immediately set 
olT in pursuit of the purcliaser, overtook him some- 
where in the Indim territory, and bought the woman 
of liim, at an advanced price. He tlien brought lier 
l)ack, and j)ut her, as liis liou^ekcej)er, on the place 
wlierc he now hved ; left liis fatlier, and came to re- 
side in |)erson with the woman. 

On a plantation adjoining tijat of the gentleman 
bachelor, lived a planter, who owned a young mu- 
latto man, named Frank, not more than twenty-four 
or live years old, a very smart, as well as handsome 
fellow. Frank had become as much enanioured of 
this woman, who was old enouij^h to have been his 
mother, as her master, tlic bachelor was ; and she 
leturncd Frank's allachmenl, to the prejudice of her 
owner. Frank was in the practice of visiting his 
mistress at night, a circumstance of which her mas- 
ter was suspicious ; and he forbade Frank from com- 
ing to the house. This only heightened the flame 
that was burning in the bosoms of the lovers; and 
they resolved, a Her mnny and long deliberations, to 
destroy the master. She projected the plot, and fur- 
nished the means for the murder, by taking her mas- 
ter's gun from the place where he usually kept it, 
and giving it to Frank, who came to the house in 
the evening, when the gentleman was taking his 
supper alone. 

Lucy always waited upon her master at his 
meals, and knowing his usual place of sitting, had 



372 Narrative of the 

made a hole between two of the logs of the house, 
towards which, she knew his back would be at sup- 
per. At a given signal, Frank came quietly up to 
the house, levelled the gun through the hole prepared 
for him, and discharged a load of buck-shot between 
the shoulders of the unsuspecting master, w ho sprang 
from his seat and fell dead beside the table. This 
murder was not known in the neighbourhood until 
the next morning, when the woman herself went to 
a house on an adjoining plantation, and told it. 

The murdered gentleman had several other slaves, 
none of whom were at home at the time of his death, 
except one man ; and he was so terrified that he was 
afraid to run and alarm the neighbourhood. I 
knew this man well, and believe he was afraid of 
the woman and her accomplice. I never had any 
doubt of his innocence, though he suffered a punish- 
ment, upon no other evidence than mere suspicion, 
far more terrible than any ordinary form of death. 

As soon as the murder was known to the neigh- 
l)ouring gentlemen^ they hastened to visit the dead 
body, and were no less expeditious in instituting in- 
quiries after those who had done the bloody deed. 
My master was amongst the first who arrived at the 
house of the deceased ; and in a short time, half the 
slaves of the neighbouring plantations were arrested, 
and brought to the late dwelling of the dead man. 
For my own part, from the moment I heard of the 
murder, I had no doubt of its author. 

Silence is a great virtue when it is dangerous to 
speak; and I had long since determined never to 



ADVKNTl-RES OF CHARLES liALL. 373 

advance opinion?, uncalled for. in controversies be- 
tween the white people and the slaves. Many wit- 
nesses were examined by a justice of the peace, be- 
fore the coroner arrived, but after the comin|T of the 
hitter, a jury was called ; and more than half a day 
was s()ent in a.sking (juestions of various black people, 
without the disclosure of any circumstance, which 
tende<l to fix the guilt of the murder upon any one. 
My master, who was present all this lime, at last de- 
sired them to examine me, if it was thought that my 
testimony could be of any service in the matter, as 
he wished me to go home to attend to my work. I 
was sworn on the testament to toll tiie whole truth; 
and stated at the commencement of my testimony, 
that I believed Frank and Lucy to !)C the murderers, 
and proceeded to assign the rea.sons upon which my 
opinion was founded. Frank had not been present 
at this examination, and Lucy who had been sworn, 
had said she knew nothing of the matter ; that at 
the time her master was shot, she had gone into the 
kitchen for some milk for hi:> supper, and that on 
hearing the gun, she had come into the room, at the 
moment he fell to the fl(X)r and expired ; but when 
she opened the door and looked out, she could nei- 
ther hear nor see any one. 

Wfien Frank was brought in and made to touch 
the dead body, which he was compelled to do, be- 
cause some said that if lie was the murderer, the 
corpse would bleed at his touch, he trembled so 
much, that I thought he would fall ; but no blood is- 
sued from the wound of the dead man. This com- 
J2 



374 NARRATIVE OF THE 

pulsory touching of the dead had, however, in this 
instance, a much more powerful ellect, in the convic- 
tion of the criminal, than the flowing of any quan- 
tity of blood could have had ; for as soon as Frank 
had withdrawn his hand from the touch of the dead, 
the coroner asked him, in a peremptory tone, as if 
conscious of the fact, why he had done this. Frank 
was so confounded with fear, and overwhelmed by 
this interrogatory, that he lost all self-possession, and 
cried out in a voice of despair, that Lucy had made 
him do it. 

Lucy, who had left the room when Frank was 
brought in, was now recalled, and confronted with 
her partner in guilt; but nothing could wring a 
word of confession from her. She persisted, that if 
Frank had murdered her master, he had done it of 
his own accord, and without her knowledge or ad- 
vice. Some one now, for the first time, thought of 
making search for the gun of the dead man, which 
was not found in tlie place where he usually had 
kept it. Frank said he had committed the crime 
with this gun, which had been placed in his hands 
by Lucy. Frank, Lucy, and Billy, a black man, 
against whom there was no evidence, nor cause of 
suspicion, except that he was in the kitchen at the 
time of the miu'der, were committed to prison in a 
new log-house on an adjoining plantation, closely 
confined in irons, and kept there a little more than 
two weeks, when they were all tried before some gen- 
tlemen of the neighbourhood, who held a court for 
that purpose. Lucy and Frank were condemned to 



AI>Vi:XTURES OF rriARLBS BALL. 375 

be hung; but Billy was found not sjuilty ; altlioua:h 
he was not released, hut kept in conlinenient until 
the execution of his companions, which took place 
ten days after the trial. 

On the morning of the execution, my master told 
me, and all the rest of the people, that we must go to 
the hafisflns!'. as it was termed by him as well as 
others. The place of punishment was only two 
miles from my mister's residence, and I was there in 
time to get a good stand, near the gallows' tree, by 
which I was enabled to arc all the proceedings con- 
nected with this solenui affair. It was estimated by 
my master, that there were at least fifteen thousand 
people present at this scene, more than half of whom 
were blacks ; all the masters, for a great distance 
round the country, having ptMinitted, or compelled, 
their pe<iple to come to this /ninLfin:^'-, 

Hilly was l)rout,nit to the gallows with Lucy and 
Frank, l)ut was pcrmiilcd to walk beside the cart 
in which they rode. Under the gallows, after the 
rope was around her neck, Lucy confessed that the 
murder had been designed by her, in the first place, 
and that Frank had only perpetrated it at her in- 
stance. She said she had at first intended to apply 
to Billy to assist her in the undertaking, but had 
afterwards communicated her designs to Frank, 
who otlcred to shoot her master, if she would supply 
him with a gun, aad let no other person be in the 
secret. 

A long sermon was preached by a white man un- 
der the gallows, which was only the limb of a tree. 



376 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and afterwards an exhortation was delivered by a 
black man. The two convicts were huncr tos^ether, 
and after they were quite dead, a consultation was 
held among the gentlemen as to the future disposi- 
tion of Billy, who, having been in the house when 
his master was murdered, and not having given 
immediate information of the fact, was held to be 
guilty of concealing the death, and was accordingly 
sentenced to receive five hundred lashes. I was in 
the branches of a tree close by the place where the 
court was held, and distinctly heard its proceedings 
and judgment. Some went to the woods to cut 
hickories, whilst others strijiped Billy and tied him 
to a tree. More than twenty long switches, some of 
them six or seven feet in length, had been procured, 
and two men applied the rods at the same time, one 
standing on each side of the culprit, one of them 
using his left hand. 

I had often seen black men whipped, and had 
always, when the lash was applied with great 
severity, heard the sufTerer cry out and beg for mer- 
cy ; but in this case, the pain inflicted by the double 
blows of the hickory was so intense, that Billy never 
uttered so much as a groan ; and I do not believe 
he breathed for the space of two minutes after he 
received the first strokes. He shrank his body close 
to the trunk of the tree, around which his arms and 
legs were lashed, drew his shoulders up to his head 
like a dying man, and trembled, or rather shivered, 
in all his members. The blood flowed from the 
commencement, and in a few minutes lay in small 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 377 

puddles at tiie root of the tree. 1 saw flakes of llesli 
as long as my finger fall out of the gashes in his 
back ; and I helieve he was insensible during all the 
tune that he was receivincr tlie last two hundred 
lashes. When the whole five hundred lashes had 
been counted hy the person ap|)ointed to perform 
this duty, the half dead body was unl)ound and laicJ 
ill the shade of the tree u\Hm which I sat. 'rhe 
gentIem«Mi who had done ih.- winppinir, eight or ten 
in numl)er. heinir J«>inrd hy th.-ir friends, then came 
under the tree and (hank punch until their dinner 
wa.s made n-ady, under a lx)oth of green boughs at 
a short disiaiiee. 

After dinner, Hilly, who had l>een groanini^ on 
the ground where he was laid, was Uaken up, placed 
in the cart in which Lucy and Frank had Injen 
brought to the gallows, and conveyed to the d welhng 
of his late master, where he was confined to the 
house and his hed more than three iii..mh>, and was 
never worth much afterwanis while 1 remained in 
(ieorgia. 

Lucy and Frank, after they had heen half an 
hour upon the gallows, were cut down, and suHered 
to drop into a deep hole that had been dug under 
them whilst they were suspended. As they fell, so 
the earth was thrown upon them, and the grave 
closed over them for ever. 

They were hung on Thursday, and the vast 
assemljlage of people that had convened to witness 
their death did not leave the place altogether until 
the next Monday morning. Wagons, carts, and 

32* 



378 NARRATIVE OF THE 

carriages had been brought upon the ground ; booths 
and tents erected for the convenience and accommo- 
dation of the multitude ; and the terrible spectacles 
that I have just described were succeeded by mu?ic. 
dancing, trading in horses, gambling, drinking, 
fighting, and every other species of amusement 
and excess to which the southern people are ad- 
dicted. 

1 had to work in the day-time, but went every 
night to witness this funereal carnival, the numbers 
that joined in which appeared to increase, rather 
than diminish, during the Friday and Saturday that 
followed the execution. It was not until Sunday 
afternoon that the crowd began sensibly to diminish ; 
and on Monday morning, after breakfast time, the 
last wagons left the ground, now trampled into 
dust as dry and as light as ashes, and the grave of 
the murderers was left to the solitude of the woods. 

Certainly those who were hanged w^ell deserved 
their punishment ; but it was a very arbitrary exer- 
cise of power to whip a man until he was insensi- 
ble, because he did not prevent a murder which was 
committed without his knowledge ; and I could not 
understand the right of punishing him, because he 
was so weak or timorous as to refrain from the dis- 
closure of the crime the moment it came to his 
knowledge. 

It is necessary for the southern people to be vigi- 
lant in guarding the moral condition of their slaves, 
and even to punish the intention to commit crimes, 
when that intention can be clearly proved ; for such 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 379 

\s the natural relation of master and slave, in by far 
the greater number of case?', tliat no cordiality of 
feelingr can ever exist between them : and (he sen- 
timents that bind together the dilferent membtns of 
society in a state of freedom and social equality, 
beinjT absent, the master must resort to principles of 
physical restraint, and rules of mental coercion, un- 
known in another and a different condition of the 
social compact. 

It is a mintake to sup|)osc that the southern plan- 
ters could ever retain their property, or live amongst 
their slaves, if those slaves were not kept in tenor of 
the punishment that would follow acts of violence 
and disorder. There is no dillerence between the 
feelings of the different races of ni(Mi, so far as their 
personal rights are concerned. The black man is as 
anxious to possess and to enjoy liberty as the white 
one would be, were he deprived of this inestimable 
Ijlessing. It is not for me to say that the one is as 
well cjualilied for the enjoyment of liberty as the 
other. liow ignorance, moral degradation of char- 
acter, and mental depravity, arc inseparable com- 
panions ; and in the breast of an ignorant man, 
the passions of envy and revenge hold unbridled 
dominion. 

It was in the month of April that I witnessed the 
painful spectacle of two fellow-creatures being launch- 
ed into the abyss of eternity, and a third, being tor- 
tured beyond the sufferings of mere death, not for 
his crimes, but as a terror to others ; and this^ not to 
deter others from the commission of crimes, but to 



380 NARRA.TIVE OF THE 

Stimulate them to a more active and devoted per- 
formance of their duties to their owners. My spirits 
had not recovered from the depression produced by 
that scene, in which my feehngs had been awakened 
in the cause of others, when I was called to a nearer 
and more immediate apprehension of sufferings, 
which, I now too clearly saw, were in preparation 
for myself. 

My master's health became worse continually, 
and I expected he would not survive this summer. 
In this, however, I was disappointed ; but he was so 
ill that he was seldom able to come to the field, and 
paid but little attention to his plantation, or the cul- 
ture of his crops. He left the care of the cotton field 
to me after the month of June, and was not again 
out on the plantation before the following October ; 
when he one day came out on a little Indian pony 
that he had used as his hackney, before he w^as so 
far reduced as to decline the practice of riding. I 
suffered very much this summer for want of good 
and substantial provisions, my master being no long- 
er able to supply me, with his usual liberality, from 
his own meat house. I was obhged to lay out 
nearly all my other earnings, in the course of the 
summer, for bacon, to enable me to bear the hard- 
ship and toil to which I was exposed. My master 
often sent for me to come to the house, and talked to 
me in a very kind manner ; and I believe that no 
hired overseer could have carried on the business 
more industriously than I did, until the crop was 
secured the next winter. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 3S1 

Soon after my master was in the field, in October, 
he sent for me to come to him one day, and ^ave 
me, on parting-, a pretty good great coat of strong 
drab cloth, ahnost new, which he said would be of 
service to me in the coming winter. He also gave 
me at the same time a pair of boots which he had 
worn half out, but the legs of which were quite good. 
This great coat and these boots were afterwards of 
great service to me. 

As the winter came on my master grew w^orse, 
and though he si ill continued to walk about the 
house in good weather, it was manifest that he was 
approaching the close of his earthly existence. I 
worked very hard this winter. The crop of cotton 
was lieavy, and we did not get it all out of the field 
until some time after Christmas, which compelled 
me to work hard myself, and cause my fellow-slaves 
to work hard too, in clearing the land that my mas- 
ter was bound to clear every year on this place. He 
desired me to get as much of the land cleared in 
time for cotton as I could, and to plant the rest with 
corn when cleared of!'. 

As I was now entrusted with the entire superin- 
tendence of the plantation by my master, who never 
left his house, it became necessary for me to assume 
the authority of an overseer of my fellow-slaves, and 
I not unfrequently found it proper to punish them 
with stripes to compel them to perform their work. 
At first I felt much repugnance against the use of 
the hickory, the only instrument with which I pun- 
ished offenders, but the longer I was accustomed to 



382 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



this practice, the in ore familiar and less offensive it 
became to me ; and I beheve that a few years of 
perseverance and experience would have made me 
as inveterate a negro-driver as any in Georgia, 
though I feel conscious that I never should have be- 
come so hardened as to strip a person for the purpose 
of whipping, nor should I ever have consented to 
compel people to work without a sufficiency of good 
food, if I had it in my power to supply them with 
enough of this first of comforts. 

In the month of February, my master became so 
weak, and his cough was so distressing, that he took 
to his bed, from which he never again departed, save 
only once, before the time when he was removed to 
be wrapped in his winding-sheet. In the month of 
March, two of the brothers of my mistress came to 
see her, and remained with her until after the death 
of my master. 

When they had been with their sister about three 
weeks, they came to the kitchen one day when I 
had come in for my dinner, and told me that they 
were going to whip me. I asked them what they 
were going to whip me for? to which they rephed, 
that they thought a good whipping would be good 
for me, and that at any rate, I must prepare to take 
It. My mistress now joined us, and after swearing 
at me in the most furious manner, for a space of 
several minutes, and bestowing upon me a multi- 
tude of the coarsest epithets, told me that she had 
long owed me a whipping, and that I should now 
get it. 






ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 383 

She then ordered me to take ofT my shirt (the 
only garment 1 had on, except a pair of old tow'hnen 
trowsers,) and the two brothers backed the com- 
mand of their Slater, the one by presenting a pistol at 
my breast, and the other by drawing a large club 
over his head m tlie attitude of strikincr me. Resi^ 
tance was vain, and I was forced to yield. JMy 
shirt being ot)] I was tied by the h«nds with a stout 
bed-cord, and being led to a tree, called the Pride of 
Ohina, that grew in the yard, my hands were drawn 
by the rope, being passed over a limb, uniil my feet 
no longer touched the ground. Reiner thus suspend- 
ed in the air by the rope, and my whole weight 
iianging on my wrisL^, I was unable to move any 
part of my person, except my feet and legs. I had 
never been whipped since I was a boy, and felt the 
injustice of the present proceeding with the utmost 
keenness ; but neither justice nor my feehn-, had 
any inlluence upon the hearts of my mistress and 
her brothers, two men as cruel in temper and as 
savage in manners as herself. 

The first strokes of the hickory produced a sen- 
sation that I can only liken to streams of scalding 
water, running along my back; but after a hun*^ 
(hed, or hundred and fifty lashes had been show 
cred upon me, the pain became less acute and 
piercing, but was succeeded by a dead and painful 
achmg, which seemed to extend to my very back- 
bone. 

As I hung by the rope, the moving of my legs 
sometimes caused me to turn round, and soon after 



384 NARRATIVE OF THE 

they began to beat me I saw the pale and death- 
like figure of my master standing at the door, when 
my face was turned toward the house, and heard 
him, in a faint voice, scarcely louder than a strong 
breathing, commanding his brothers-in-law to let 
me go. These commands were disregarded, until 
I had received full three hundred lashes ; and doubt- 
lessly more would have been inflicted upon me, had 
not my master, with an effort beyond his strength, 
by the aid of a stick on which he supported himself, 
made his way to me, and placing his skeleton form 
beside me as I hung, told his brothers-in-law that if 
they struck another stroke, he would send for a 
lawyer and have them both prosecuted at law. This 
interposition stopped the progress of my punishment, 
and after cutting me down, they carried my master 
ao-ain into the house. I was vet able to walk, and 
went into the kitchen, whither my mistress followed, 
and compelled me to submit to be washed in brine 
by a black woman, who acted as her cook. I was 
then permitted to put my shirt on, and to go to my 
bed. 

This was Saturday, and on the next day, when 
I awoke late in the morning, I found myself unable 
to turn over or to rise. I felt too indignant at the 
barbarity with which 1 had been treated to call for 
help from any one, and lay in my bed made of corn 
husks until after twelve o'clock, when my mistress 
came to me and asked me how I was. A slave 
must not manifest feelings of resentment, and I an- 
swered with humility, that I was very sore and un- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL- 385 

able to get up. She tlien called a man and a woman, 
wiio came ai)d raised me up ; but I now found that 
my yhirt was as fast to my back as if it had grown 
there. The blood and bruised flesh having become 
incorporated with the substance of the linen, it 
formed only the outer coat of the great scab that 
covered my back. 

After 1 was down stairs, my mistress had me 
washed in warm water, and warm grease was rub- 
bed over my back and sides, until the shirt was 
saturated wiih oil, and becoming soft, was at length 
separated from my back. My mistress then had 
my back washed and greased, and put upon me one 
of my ma.-ter's old linen shirts. She had become 
alarmed, and was feiuful either that I should die. or 
would not be aide to work again for a long lime. As 
it was, she lost a month of my labour at this time, 
and in the end, she lost myself, in conse(|uence of 
this whijiping. 

As soon as I was able to walk, my master sent 
for me to come to his bed-side, and told jue that he 
was very sorrow for what had hap[)ened ; that it 
was not his fault, and that if he had been well I 
should never have been touched. Tears came in 
his eyes as he talked to me, and said that as lie could 
not live long, he hoped I would continue faithful to 
him whilst lie did live. This I promised to do, for 
I really loved my master ; but I had already deter- 
nihied, that as soon as he was in his grave, I 
would attempt to escape from Georgia and the cot- 
33 



386 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



ton country, if my life should be the forfeiture of the 
attempt. 

As soon as I had recovered of my wounds, I again 
went to work, not in my former situation of super- 
intendent of my master's plantation, for this place 
was now occupied by one of the brothers of my 
mistress, but in the woods, where my mistress had 
determined to clear' a new Meld. After this time, I 
did nothing but grub and clear land, while I re- 
mained in Georgia, but I was always making 
preparations for my departure from that country. 

My master was an officer of militia, and had a 
sword which he wore on parade cays, and at other 
times he hung it up in the room where he slept. I 
conceived an idea that this sword would be of ser- 
vice to me in the long journey that I intended to 
undertake. One evening, when I had gone in to 
see my master, and had remained standing at his 
bed-side some time, he closed his eyes as if going 
to sleep, and it being twilight, I slipped the sword 
from the place where it hung, and dropped it out 
of the windovv^ I knew my master could never 
need this weapon again, but yet I felt some com- 
punction of conscience at the thought of robbing so 
good a man. When I left the room, i took up the 
sword, and afterwards secreted it in a hollow tree 
in the woods, near the place at which I worked 
daily. 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 387 



CHAPTER XX. 

My master died in the month of May, and I 
followed him to his grave with a heavy heart, for 
I felt that 1 had lost the only friend I had in the 
world, who possessed at once the power and the 
inclination to protect me against the tyranny and 
oppression to which slaves on a cotton plantation are 
subject. 

Had he lived, I should have remained with him, 
and never have left hiin, for he had promised to 
purchase the residue of my time of my owners in 
Carolina ; but when he was gone, I felt the parting 
of the last tie that bound me to the place where I 
then was, and my heart yearned for my wife and 
children, from whom I had now been separated more 
than four years. 

1 held my life in small estimation, if it was to be 
w^orn out imder the dominion of my mistress and 
her brothers, though since the death of my master she 
had greatly meliorated my condition by giving me 
frequent allowances of meat and other necessaries. 
I believe she entertained some vague apprehensions 
that I might run away, and betake myself to the 
woods for a living, perhaps go to the Indians ; but 
I do not think she ever suspected that I would haz- 
ard the untried undertaking of attempting to make 
my way back to Maryland. My purpose was fixed, 
and now nothing could shake it. I only waited for 
a proper season of the year to commence my toil- 



388 NARRATIVE OF THE 

some and dangerous journey. As I must of ne- 
cessity procure my own subsistence on my march, 
it behoved me to pay regard to the time at which I 
took it up. 

I furnished myself with a fire-box, as it is called, 
that is, a tin case containing flints, steel and tinder, 
this I considered indispensable. I took the great 
coat that my master had given me, and with a 
coarse needle and thread quilted a scabbard of old 
cloth in one side of it, in which I could put my 
sword and carry it with safety. I also procured a 
small bag of linen that held more than a peck. This 
bag 1 filled with the meal of parched corn, grinding 
the corn after it was parched in the woods where I 
worked at the mill at night. These operations, ex- 
cept the giinding of the corn, I carried on in a small 
conical cabin tliat I had built in the woods. The 
boots tliat my master gave me, I had repaired by a 
Spaniard who lived in the neighbourhood, and fol- 
lowed the business of a cobbler. 

Before the first of August I had all m}^ prepara- 
tions completed, and had matured them with so 
much secrecy, that no one in the country, white or 
black, suspected me of entertaining any extraordi- 
nary design. I only waited for the corn to be ripe, 
and fit to be roasted, which time I had fixed as the 
period of my departure. I watched the progress of 
the corn daily, and on the eighth of August I per- 
ceived, on examining my mistress' field, that nearly 
half of the ears were so far grown, that by roasting 
them, a man could easily subsist himself; and as I 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 389 

knew that this com had been planted later than the 
most of the corn in the country, I resolved to take 
leave of the plantation and its tenants, for ever, on 
the next day. 

1 had a faithful dog, called Trueman, and this 
poor animal had been my constant companion for 
more than four years, without ever showing cow- 
ardice or infidelity, but once, and that was when the 
panther followed us from the woods. 1 was accord- 
ingly anxious to bring my dog with me ; but as I 
knew the success of my undertaking depended on 
secrecy and silence, I thought it safest to abandon 
my last fiiend, and engage in my perilous enterprise 
alone. On the morning of the ninth, I went to 
work as usual, carrying my dinner with me, and 
worked diligently at grubbing until about one o'clock 
in the day. I now sat down and took my last din- 
ner as the slave of my mistress, dividing the con- 
tents of my basket with my dog. After I had fin- 
ished, I tied my dog with a rope to a small tree ; I 
set my gun against it, for 1 thought i should be bet- 
ter without the gun than with it ; tied my knapsack 
with my bag of meal on my shoulders, and then 
turned to take a last farewell of my poor dog, that 
stood by the tree to which he was bound, looking 
wistfully at me. When I approached him, he lick- 
ed my hands, and then rising on his hind feet, and 
placing his fore paws on my breast, he uttered a long 
howl, which thrilled through my heart, as if he had 
said, " My master, do not leave me behind you." 
All the affection that the poor animal had testified 
33* 



390 NARRATIVE "of THE 

for me in the course of his Ufe, now rose fresh in my 
memory. 1 recollected that he had always been 
ready to lay down his life for me ; that when I was 
tied and bound to the tree to be whipped, they were 
forced to compel me to order my dog to be quiet, to 
prevent him from attacking my executioner in my 
defence ; and even when he fled from the panther, 
he had not left me, only advancing a few feet before 
me, and beckoning me to fly from an enemy whose 
strength was too great for us to contend against with 
hope of success ; and I now felt assured, that had 
the panther attacked me, my dog would have con- 
quered at my side, or have died in defending me. 
This was the first time that 1 liad ever tied him. I 
had often left him for a whole day to guard my 
coat, my basket, or my gun, which he never desert- 
ed ; and he now seemed to feel that I charged him 
with ingratitude and infidelity, when I bound him 
to a charge which I had never known him to for- 
sake. 

As I was now leaving my dog for ever, I talked 
to him as to a creature that understood lani'uage, 
and was sensible of the dangers I was going to 
meet. 

" Poor Trneman, faithful Trueman, fare thee 
well. Thou hast been an honest dog, and sure 
friend to thy master in all his shades of fortune. 
AVhen my basket was well filled, how cheerfully we 
have partaken together of its contents. I did not 
then upbraid thee, that thou atest in idleness the 
proceeds of my labour, for I knew that thy heart 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 391 

was devoted to thy protector. In the day of my ad- 
versity, when all the world had forsaken me, when 
my master was dead, and I had no friend to protect 
me, still, poor Trueman, thou wert the same. Thou 
laidest thyself down at my feet when the world had 
united to oppress me. How often, when I w^assick, 
and the fever raged in my veins, didst thou come at 
the going down of the sun, and lick my feet in token 
of tiiy faith ; and how {)atiently didst thou watch 
with thy poor master through the long and lonely 
night. 

" When 1 had no crumlxs in my basket to give 
thee, nor crust in my pocket to divide w ith thee, thy 
faithful lieait failed not ; and a glance from the eye 
of thy hungry master filled thee with gratitude and 
joy. Poor dog, I must bid thee farewell. To-mor- 
row they will come and release thee. Perhaps they 
will hate thee for my sake, and persecute thee as 
they have persecuted me; but I leave thee my gun 
to secure thee protection at the hands of those who 
will be the arbiters of thy fate when I am gone. It 
is all the legacy 1 can give thee ; and surely they 
will not kill so good a dog when they see him pos- 
sessed of so true a gun. Man is selfish and heartless 
— the richest of them all are as wretched slaves as I 
am, and are only minions of fear and avarice. Could 
pride and ambition witness thy fidelity and grati- 
tude to thy forsaken master, and learn humility from 
thy example, how many tears would be wiped from 
the eyes of sorrow. Follov/ the new master w^ho 



392 NARRATIVE OF THE 

shall possess my gun, and may he be as kind to thee 
as ihou hast been faithful to me." 

I now took to the forest, keeping, as nearly as I 
could, a north course all the afternoon. Night over- 
took me, before I reached any watercourse, or any 
other object worthy of being noticed ; and 1 lay 
down and slept soundly, without kindling a fire, or 
eating any thing. I was awake before day, and as 
soon as there \^ as light enough to enable me to see 
my way, I resumed my journey and walked on, 
until about eight o'clock, when 1 came to a river, 
which 1 knew must be the Appalachie. I sat down 
on the bank of the river, opened my bag of meal, 
and made my breakfast of a part of its contents. I 
used my meal very sparingly, it being the most va- 
luable treasure that I now possessed ; though I had 
in my pocket three Spanish dollars ; but in my situ- 
ation, this money could not avail me any thing, as 
1 was resolved not to show myself to any person, 
either white or black. After taking my breakfast, I 
prepared to cross the river, which was here about a 
hundred yards wide, with a sluggish and deep cur- 
rent. The morning was sultry, and the thickets 
along the margin of the river teemed with insects 
and reptiles. By sounding the river with a pole, I 
found the stream too deep to be waded, and I therefore 
prepared to swim it. For this purpose, I stripped 
myself, and bound my clothes on the top of my 
knapsack, and my bag of meal on the top of my 
clothes ; then drawing my knapsack close up to my 
head, I threw myself into the river. In my youth 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 393 

I had learned to swim in the Patuxent, and have 
seldom met with any person who was more at ease 
in deep water than myself. I kept a straight line 
from the place of my entrance into the Appalachie, 
to the opposite side, and when 1 had reached it, step- 
ped on the margin of the land, and turned round to 
view the place from which I had set out on my 
aquatic passage ; but my eye was arrested by an ob- 
ject nearer to me than the opposite shore. Within 
twenty feet of me, in the very line that I had pur- 
sued in crossing the river, a large alligator was 
moving in full pursuit of me, with his nose just 
above the surface, in the position that creature takes 
when he gives chase to his intended prey in the wa- 
ter. The alligator can swim more than twice as 
fast as a man, for he can overtake young ducks on 
the water ; and had I been ten seconds longer in the 
river, I should have been dragged to the bottom, and 
never again been heard of. 

Seeing that 1 had gained the shore, my pursuer 
turned, made two or three circles in the water close 
by me, and thenrdisappeared. 

I received this admonition as a warning of the 
dangers that I must encounter in my journey to the 
north. After adjusting my clothes, I again took to 
the woods, and bore a little to the east of norih ; it 
now being my determination to turn down the 
country, so as to gain the line of the roads by which 
I had come to the south. I travelled all day in the 
woods ; but a short time before sundown, came 
within view of an opening in the forest, which I took 



394 NARRATIVE OF THE 

to be cleared fields, but upon a closer examination, 
finding no fences or other enclosures around it, I ad- 
vanced into it and found it to be an open savannah, 
with a small stream of water creeping slowly through 
it. At the lower side of the open space, were the 
remains of an old beaver dam, the central part of 
which had been broken away by the current of the 
stream at the time of some flood. Around the mar- 
gin of this former pond, I observed several decayed 
beaver lodges, and numerous stumps of small trees, 
that had been cut down for the food or fortifications 
of this industrious little natio), which had fled at the 
approach of the white man, and all its people were 
now, like me, seeking refuge in the deepest solitudes 
of the forest, from th ■ glance of every hun]an eye. 
As it was growing late, and I believed I must now 
be near the settlements, I determined to encamp 
for the night, ])eside tliis old beaver dam. I again 
took my supper from my bag of meal, and made my 
bed for tlie night, amongst the canes that grew in 
the place. This night I slept but little : for it seem- 
ed as if all the owls in the country had assembled 
in my neighbourhood to perform a grand musical 
concert. Their hooting and chattering commenced 
soon after dark, and continued until the dawn of day. 
In all parts of the southern country, the owls are 
very numerous, especially along the margins of 
streams, and in the low grounds, with which the 
waters are universally bordered ; but since I had 
been in the country, although I had passed many 
nights in the woods, at all seasons of the year, I had 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 395 

never before heard so clamorous and deafening a 
chorus of nocturnal music. With the coming of 
the morning, I arose from my couch, and proceeded 
warily along the woods, keeping a continual look- 
out for plantations, and listening attentively to every 
noise that I heard in the trees, or amongst the cane- 
brakes. When the sun had been up two or three 
hours, 1 <aw an appearance of blue sky at a distance, 
through the trees, which proved that the forest had 
been removed from a spot somewhere before me, 
and at no great distance from me ; and, as I cau- 
tiously advanced, I heard the voices of people in 
loud conversation. Sitting down amongst the 
palmetto plants, that grew around me in great 
numl)ers, I soon perceived that the people whose con- 
versation I heard, were coming nearer to me. I 
now heard the sound of horses' feet, and immedi- 
ately afterwards, saw two men on horseback, with 
rifles on their shoulders, riding through the woods, 
and moving on a line that led them past me, at a 
distance of about fifty or si^ty yards. Perceiving 
that these men were equipped as hunters, I remain- 
ed almost breathless, for the purpose of hearing their 
conversation. Wlien they came so near that I 
could distinguish their words, they were talking of 
the best place to take a stand for the purpose of 
seeing the deer ; from which I inferred, that they 
had sent men to some other point, for the purpose of 
rousi jg the deer with dogs. After they had passed 
that point of their way that was nearest to me, and 
were beginning to recede from me, one of them ask- 



S96 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ed the other, if he had heard that a negro had 
run away the day before yesterday, in Morgan 
county ; to which his companion answered in the 
negative. The first then said, he had seen an ad- 
vertisement at the store, which offered a liundred 
dollars reward for the runaway, whose name was 
Charles. 

The conversation of these horsemen was now 
interrupted by the cry of hounds, at a distance in 
the woods, and heightening the speed of their horses, 
they were soon out of my sight and hearing. 

Information of the state of the country through 
which I was travelling, was of the highest value to 
me ; and nothing could more nearly interest me than 
a knowledge of the fact, that my fliglit was known 
to the white people, who resided round about, and 
before me. It was now necessary for me to become 
doubly vigilant, and to concert with myself measures 
of the highest moment. 

The first resolution that I took was, that I would 
travel no more in the day-time. This was the sea- 
son of hunting deer, and knowing that tlie hunters 
were under the necessity of being as silent as possi- 
ble in the woods, I saw at a glance that they would 
be at least as likely to discover me in the forest, 
before I could see them, as I should be to see them, 
before I myself could be seen. 

I was now very hungry, but exceedingly loath to 
make any further breaches on my bag of meal, ex- 
cept in extreme necessity. Feeling confident that 
there was a plantation within a few rods of me, I 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 397 

was anxious to have a view of it, in hope that I 
might find a corn-field upon it, from which I could 
obtain a supply of roasting ears. Fearful to stand 
upright, I crept along through the low ground, 
where I then was, at times raising myself to my 
knees, for the purpose of obtaining a better view 
of things about me. In this way 1 advanced until 
I came in view of a high fence, and beyond this 
saw cottijU; tall and lluurisliing, but no sign of 
corn. I crept up close to the fence, where I found 
the trunk t)f a largo tree, that had been felled in 
clearing the lield. Standing upon this, and look- 
ing over the plantation, I saw the tassels of corn, at 
the distance of lialf a mile, growing in a field which 
was Iwrdcned on one side by th(i wood, in which 1 
stood. 

It was now nine or ten o'clock in the morning, 
and as I had slept but little the night before, 1 crept 
into the bushes, great numbers of which grew in 
and about the top of the fallen tree, and. hungry as 
I was, fell asleep. When I awoke, it appeared to 
me from the position of the sun, which I had care- 
fully noted, before I lay down, to be about one or 
two o'clock. As this was the time of the day, when 
the heat is most oppressive, and when every one was 
most likely to be absent from the forest, I again 
moved, and taking a circuitous route at some dis- 
tance from the fields, reached the fence opposite 
the corn-field, without having met with any thing 
to alarm me. Having cautiously examined e^'ery 
thing around me, as well by the eye as by the ear, 
34 



398 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and finding all quiet, I ventured to cross the fence and 
pluck from the standing stalks, about a dozen good 
ears of corn, with which I stole back to tlie thicket in 
safety. This corn was of no use to me without fire 
to roast it ; and it was equally dangerous to kindle 
fire by night, as by day, the light at one time, and 
the smoke at another, might betray me to those 
who I knew were ever ready to pursue and arrest 
me. "Hunger eats through stone walls," says the 
proverb; and an empty stomach is a petitioner, 
whose sohcitations cannot be refused, if tliere is any 
thing to satisfy them with. 

Having regained the woods in safety, I ventured 
to go as far as the side of a swamp, which I knew 
to be at the distance of two or three hundred yards, 
by the appearance of the timber. When in the 
swamp, I felt pretty secure, but determined that I 
w^ould never again attempt to travel in the neigh- 
bourhood of a plantation in the daytime. 

When in the swamp a quarter of a mile, I collected 
some dry wood, and lighted it with the aid of my 
tinder-box, flint, and steel. This was the first fire 
that I kindled on my journey, and I was careful to 
burn none but dry wood, to prevent the formation of 
smoke. Here I roasted my corn, and ate as much 
of it as I could. After my dinner, I lay down and 
slept for three or four hours. When 1 awoke, the 
sun was scarcely visible through the tree tops. It 
was evening, and prudence required me to leave the 
swamp before dark, lest I should not be able to find 
my way out. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 399 

Approaching the edge of the swamp, I watched 
the going down of the sun, and noted the stars 
as they appeared in tlie heavens. I had long since 
learned toj distinguish the north-star, from all the 
other small luminaries of the night; and the seven 
pointers were familiar to me. These heavenly ho- 
dies'were all the guides i had to direct me on my 
way, and as soon as the night had set in, 1 commen- 
ced my march throu<jh the wooils, hearing- as nearly 
due east as 1 could. 

1 took this cour.-^e fur the purpose of getting down 
the country, as far as the road leading from Au- 
gusta to Morgan County, with the intention of pur- 
suing the route by which I had come out from 
South Carolina ; deeming it more safe to travel the 
high road by night, than to attempt to make my way 
at random over the country, guided only by the 
stars. I travpll<Ml all night, keepin": the north-star 
on my left hand as nearly as 1 could, and passing 
many plantations, taking care to keep at a great 
distance from the houses. T think I travelled at 
least twenty-five miles to-night, without passing 
any road that appeared so wide, or so much beaten, 
as that which I had travelled when I came from 
South Carolina. This night I passed through a 
peach orchard, laden with fine ripe fruit, with which 
1 filled my pockets and hat ; and before day, in 
crossing a corn-field, I pulled a supply of roasting- 
ears, with which and my peaches, I retired at break 
of day to a large wood, into which T travelled more 
than a mile before I halted. Here, in the midst of 



400 NARRATIVE OF THE 

a thicket of high whortleberry bushes, I encamped 
for the day. I made my breakfast upon roasted 
corn and peaches, and then lay down and slept, un- 
molested, until after twelve o'clock, when I awoke 
and rose up for the purpose of taking a better view 
of my quarters ; but I was scarcely on my feet, 
when I was attacked by a swarm of hornets, that 
issued from a large nest that hung on the limb of a 
tree, within twenty or thirty feet of me. 

I knew that the best means of making peace with 
my hostile neighbours, was to lie down with my 
face to the ground ; and this attitude I quickly took, 
not however before I had been stung by several of 
my assailants, which kept humming through the air 
about me for a long time, and prevented me from 
leaving this spot until after sundown, and after they 
had retired to rest for the night. I now commenced 
the attack on my part, and taking a handful of dry 
leaves, approached the nest, which was full as large 
as a half bushel, and thrusting the leaves into the 
hole at the bottom of the nest, through which its te- 
nants passed in and out, secured the whole garrison 
prisoners in their own citadel. I now cut off the 
branch upon which the nest hung, and threw^ it, 
with its contents, into iny evening fire, over which I 
roasted a supply of corn, for my night's journey. 

Commencing my march this evening, soon after 
nightfall, I travelled until about one o'clock in the 
morning, as nearly as I could estimate the time, by 
the appearance of the stars, when I came upon a 
road, which from its width, and beaten appearance^ 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 401 

I took to be the road leading to Augusta, and deter- 
mined to pursue it. 

I travelled on this road until I saw the appearance 
of daylight, when I turned into the woods, and went 
full a mile before I ventured to stop for the day. I 
concealed myself to-day in a thicket of young pine 
trees, that had sprung up round about an old pen of 
logs, which had formerly been used, either as a wolf 
or turkey trap. In this letreat nothing disturbed 
me this day, and at dark I again returned to the 
road, which I travelled in silence, treadirigas lightly 
as possible with my feet, and listening most atten- 
tively to every sound that I heard. After being on 
tlie road more than an hour, I heard the sound of 
the feet of horses, and immediately stepped aside, 
and took my place behind the trunk of a large tree.' 
Within a minute or two, several horses with men on 
tliem, passed me. The men were talking to each 
other, and one of them asked another, in my hear- 
ing if it was not about five miles to the Oconee. 
The reply was too low to be understood by me ; but 
I was now satisfied that I was on the high road, 
leading down the country, on the Savannah side of 
Oconee. 

Waiting until these horsemen were out of hearing, 
I followed them at a brisk walk, and within less than 
an hour, came to the side of a river, the width of 
which I could not ascertain, by reason of the dark- 
ness of the night, some fog having risen from the 
water. 

1 had no doubt that this stream was the Oconee • 
34* ' 



402 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and as I had heretofore forded that river with a wa^- 
on and team, I procured a long stick from the shore, 
and entered the river with all my clothes on me, ex- 
cept my great coat and pantaloons, which 1 carried 
on my back. The river proved shallow, not being 
more than four feet deep in the deepest part ; and I 
had proceeded in safety beyond the middle of the 
stream, when I heard tlie noise produced by horses' 
feet in front of me, and within two or three minutes 
several horsemen rode into the river directly before 
me, and advanced towards me. I now stooped down 
into the water, so as to leave notbing but my bead, 
and the upper part of my pack al)ove its surface, and 
waited the passage of the strangers, who, after riding 
into the river until the water washed tlie tellies of 
their horses, stopped to permit the animals to drink ; 
two of them being, at this time, not more than ten 
yards from me. Here they entered into conversation 
with each other, and one said, it was his opinion that 
" that fellow had not come this way at all." The 
other then asked what his name was, and the first 
replied that he was called Charles, in the advertise- 
ments, but that he would no doubt call himself by 
some other name ; as runaway negroes always took 
some false name, and assumed a false character. I 
now knew that I was within a few feet of a party, 
who were patrolling the country in search of me, and 
that nothing could save me from falling into their 
hands, but tlie obscurity produced by the fog. 

There were no clouds, and if the fog had not been 
in the air, they must have perceived my head, on 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 403 

the smooth surface of the water, and have known 
that it was no stump or log of wood. After a fevv 
minutes of pause, these gentlemen all rode on to the 
side of the river from Vvhich I had come, and in a 
short time were out of hearing. 

Notwithstanding they were gone, I remained in 
the water full a quarter of an hour, until I was cer- 
tain that no oilier persons were moving along the 
road near me. These were the same gentlemen who 
had passed me, early in the night, and from whom I 
learned the distance to the river. From these people 
I had gained intelligence, which I considered of 
much value to me. It was now certain, that the 
whole country had hecn advised of my flight; hut 
it was e(iuaily certain that no one had any knowl- 
edge of the course I had taken, nor of the point I 
was endeavouring to reach. To prevent any one 
from ac(|uiring a knowledge of my route, was a pri- 
mary object with me ; and I determined from this 
moment, so to regulate my movements, as to wrap 
my very existence, in a veil of impenetrable secrecy. 
After leaving t!ie river one or two miles, I turned 
aside from the road, and wrung the water from my 
clothes, which were all wet. This occupied some 
time, and after being again equipped for my journey, 
I made all haste to gain as much distance this night, 
as possi!>le. The fog extended only a few niiles 
from the river, and from the top of an eminence 
which I gained, an hour after wringing my clothes, 
the stars were distinctly visible. Here I discovered 
that the road I was travelling bore nearly east, and 



404 NARRATIVE OF THE 

was not likely to take me to the Savannah river, for 
a long time. Nevertheless, I travelled hard until 
daylight appeared before me, which was my signal 
for turning into the woods, and seeking a place of 
safety for the day. 

The country in which I now was, appeared high 
and dry, without any swamps or low grounds, in 
which an asylum might be found ; I therefore deter- 
mined to go to the top of a hill, tliat extended on my 
right for some distance either way. The summit of 
this ridge was gained before there was enougli of 
dayliglit to enable me to see objects clearly ; but, as 
soon as a view of the place could be had, I discover- 
ed, that it was a thicket of pine trees ; and that the 
road which I had left, led through a plantation that 
lay within sight : the house and other buildings on 
which, appeared to be such as I had before seen ; 
but I could not at once recollect where, or at what 
time I had seen them. 

Going to an open space in the thicket, from which 
I could scan the plantation at leisure, I became satis- 
fied, after the sun had risen, and thrown his light 
upon the earth, that this was no other than the resi- 
dence of the gentleman, who had so kindly enter- 
tained my master and me, as we went to. and re- 
turned from, Savannah with the wagon. I now re- 
membered, that this gentleman was the friend of my 
late master, and that he had told me, to conie and 
see him if ever I passed this way again ; but I knew 
that he was a slave-holder and a planter ; and that 
when he gave me liberty to visit his plantation, he 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 405 

expected that my visits would always be the visits of 
a slave, and not the clandestine calls of a runaway 
negro. 

It seemed to me, that this gentleman was too bene- 
volent a man, to arrest and send me back to my cruel 
mistress ; and yet, how could I expect, or even hope, 
that a cotton planter would see a runaway slave on 
his premises, and not cause him to be taken up, and 
sent home ? Failing to seize a runaway slave, when 
he has him in his power, is held to be one of the 
most dishonourable acts, to which a southern plant- 
er can subject himself Nor should (he people of 
the north be surprised at this. Slaves are regarded, 
in the south, as the most precious of all earthly pos- 
sessions ; and at the same time, as a precarious and 
hazardous kind of property, in the enjoyment of 
which the master is not safe. The planters may 
well be compared to the inhabitants of a national 
frontier, which is exposed to the inroads of hostile in- 
vading tribes. Where all are in like danger, and 
subject to like fears, it is expected that all will be 
governed by like sentiments, and act upon like prin- 
ciples. 

I stood and looked at the house of this good plant- 
er, for more than an hour after the sun had risen, 
and saw all the movements which usually take 
place on a cotton plantation in the morning. Long 
before the sun was up, the overseer had proceeded to 
the field, at the head of the hands ; the black women 
who attended to the cattle, and milked the cows, 
had gone to the cow-pen with their pails ; and the 



4:06 NARRATIVE OF THE 

smoke ascended from the chimney of the kitchen, 
before the doors of the great house were opened, or 
any of the members of the family were seen abroad. 
At length, two young ladies opened the door, and 
stood in the freshness of the morning air. These 
were soon joined by a brother ; and at last, I saw the 
gentleman himself leave the house, and walk to- 
wards the stables, that stood at some distance from 
the house, on my left. I think even now, that it 
was a foolish resolution that emboldened me to show 
myself to this gentleman. It was like throwing 
one's self in the way of a lion who is known some- 
times to spare those whom he might destroy ; but 1 
resolved to go and meet this planter at his stables, 
and tell him my whole story. Issuing from the 
woods, I crossed the fields unperceived by the people 
at the house, and going directly to the stables, pre- 
sented myself to their proprietor, as he stood looking 
at a fine horse, in one of the yards. At first, he did 
not knov," mc, and asked me w^hose man I was. I 
then asked him if he did not remember me ; and 
named the time when I had been at liis house. I 
then told at once, that I was a runaway : that my 
master was dead, and my mistress so cruel, that I 
could not live with her : not omitting to show the 
scars on my back, and to give a full account of the 
mariner in which they had been made. The gen- 
tleman stood and looked at me more than a minute, 
without uttering a word, and then sai 1, " Charles, I 
will not betray you, but you must not stay here. It 
must not be known that you were on this plantation, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 407 

and that I saw and conversed with you. However, 
as I siippo:^e you are hungry, you may go to the 
kitchen and get your hreakfast with my house ser- 
vants." 

He then set off for the house, and I followed, hut 
turning into tlie kitchen, as he ordered me, I wag 
soon supphed with a good l)reakrast of cold meat, 
warm hread, and as mucli new huttcr-milk as I 
ch )se to drink. Before I sat down to breakfast, the 
lady of the house came into the kitchen, with her 
two daughters, and gave me a dram of peach bran- 
dy. I drank this brandy, and was very thankful for 
it : but I am fully convinced now that it did me 
much more harm than good ; and that this part of 
the kindness of this most excellent family, was alto- 
gether misplaced. 

Whilst I was taking my breakfast, a black man 
came into the kitchen, and gave me a dollar that he 
said his master had sent me, at the same time lay- 
ing on the table before me a package of bread 
and meat, weighing at least ten pounds, wrapped 
up in a cloth. On delivering these things, the 
black man told me that his master desired me to 
(juit hi', premises as soon as 1 had finished my 
breakfast. 

This injunction I obeyed ; and within less than 
an hour after 1 entered this truly hospitable house. 
I cjuitted it forever, but not without leaving behind 
me my holiest blessings upon the heads of its in- 
habitants. It was yet early in the morning when I 



408 NARRATIVE OF THE 

regaiaed the woods on the opposite side of the plan- 
tation, from tliat by which 1 had entered it. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

I could not believe it possilile that the white peo- 
ple wliom I had just left, would give information of 
the route I had taken ; but as it was possible that all 
who dwelt on this plantation might not be so pure of 
heart as were they who possessed it, I thought it pru- 
dent 10 travel some distance in the woods, before 
1 stopped for the day, notwithstanding the risk of 
moving about in the open light. For the purpose 
of precluding tlie possibility of being betrayed, 1 now 
determined to quit this road, and travel altogether in 
the woods, or through o[3en fields, for two or three 
nights, guiding my march by the stars. In pursu- 
ance of this resolution, I bore away to the left of 
the his^h road, and travelled five or six miles before I 
stopped, going round all the fields that I saw in 
my way, and keeping them at a good distance 
from me. 

In the afternoon of this day, it rained, and I had 
no other shelter than the boughs and leaves of a 
large magnolia tree ; but this kept me tolerably dry, 
and as it cleared away in the evening, I was able to 
continue my journey by starlight. I have no defi- 
nite idea of the distance that I travelled in the course 
of this and the two succeeding nights, as I had no 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 409 

road to guide me, and was much perplexed by the 
plaiuatioQs and houses, the latter of which I most 
carefully eschewed ; but on tiie third night after this, 
I encountered a danger, which waa very nearly fatal 
to me. 

At the time of which I now speak, the moon 
having changed lately, shone until about eleven 
o'clock. I had been on my way two or three hours 
this evening, and all the world seemed to be quiet, 
when I entered a plantation that lay quite across my 
way. In passing through these fields, I at last saw 
tlie houses, and other improvements, and about a 
hundred yards from the house, a peach orchard, 
which I could distinguish by the faint light of the 
moou. This oi chard was but little out of my way, 
and a quarter of a mile, as nearly as I could judo-e 
from the woods. I resolved to examine these peach 
trees, and see what fruit was on them. Coming 
amongst them, I found the fruit of the kind called 
Indian peaches, in Georgia. 

These Indian peaches are much the largest and 
finest peaches that I have ever seen, one of them 
oftentimes being as large as a common quince. I 
liad filled all my pockets, and was filling my hand- 
kerchief with this delicious fruit, which is of deep 
red, when I heard the loud growl of a dog toward 
the house, the roof of which 1 could see. I stood 
as still as a stone, but yet the dog growled on, and 
at length barked out. I presume he smelled me, 
for he could not hear me. In a short time I found 
that the dog was coming towards me, and I then 
35 



410 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Started and ran as fast as 1 could for the woods. He 
now barked louder, and was followed by another 
dog, both making a terrible noise. 1 was then pret- 
ty light of foot, and was already close by the woods 
when the first dog overtook me. 1 carried a good 
stick in my hand, and with this I kept the dogs at 
bay, until I gained the fence, and escaped into the 
\voods ; but now I heard the shouts of men encour- 
ao-ine: the do^s, both of which were now up with 
me, and the men were coming as fast as they could. 
The dogs would not permit me to run, and unless I 
could make free use of my heels, it was clear that I 
must be taken in a few minutes. I now thought of 
my master's sword, which 1 had not removed from 
its quilted scabbard, in my great coat, since I com- 
menced my journey. I snatched it from its sheath, 
and, at a single cut, laid open the head of the lar- 
gest and fiercest of the dogs, from. his neck to his 
nose. He gave a loud yell and fell dead on the 
ground. The other dog, seeing the fate of his com- 
panion, leaped the fence, and escaped into the field, 
where he stopped, and like a cowardly cur, set up a 
clamorous barking at the enemy he was afraid to 
look in the face. I thought this no time to wait 
to ascertain what the men would say, when they 
came to their dead dog, but made the best of my 
way through the woods and did not stop to look be- 
hind me, for more than an hour. In my battle with 
the dogs, I lost all my peaches, except a few that re- 
mained in my pockets ; and in running through 
the w^oods 1 tore my clothes very badly, a disaster not 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 411 

easily repaired in my situation ; but I had proved 
the Solidity of my own judgment in putting up my 
sword as a part of my traveUing equipage. 

I now considered it necessary to travel as fast as 
possible, and get as far as I could before day, from 
the late battle-ground, and certainly I lost no time ; 
but from the occurrences of the next day, I am of 
opinion, thit I had not continued in a straight line 
all uiLrbt, but tiiat I nuist have travelled in a circu- 
lar or^zigzag route. When a man is greatly ahujii- 
e<l, and in a strani^e country, he is not able to note 
courses, or cahulalc distances, very accurately. 

Daylight mruie in appearance, wlicu I was mo- 
ving to the soulh, for the daybreak was on my left 
hand ; but 1 immediately slopped, went into a thick- 
et of low white oak bushes, and lay down to rest 
myself, for I was very weary, and soon fell asleep, 
and did not awake until it was ten or eleven 
o'clock. Before I fell asleep, 1 noted the course of 
the rising sun, from the place where I lay, in pursu- 
ance of a rule that I had established ; for by this 
means I couKl tell the time of day at any hour, with- 
in a short period of time, by taking tlie bearing 
of the sun in the heavens, from where I lay, and 
then comparing it with the place of his rising. 

\Vhen I awoke to-day, I felt hungry, and after 
eating my breakfast, again lay down, but felt an 
unusual sense of discpiietude and alarm. It seemed 
to me that this w^as not a safe place to lie in, although 
it looked as well as any other spot, that I could see. 
' I rose -and looked for a more secure retreat, buL not 



412 NARRATIVE OF THE 

seeing any, lay down again — still I was uneasy, 
and could not lie still. Finally I determined to 
get up, and remove to the side of a large and long 
black log, that lay at the distance of seventy or 
eighty yards from me. I went to the log and lay 
down by it, placing my bundle under my head, 
with the intention of going to sleep again, if I could ; 
but I had not been here more than fifteen or twen- 
ty minutes, when I heard the noise of men's voices, 
and soon after the tramping of horses on the ground. 
I lay with my back to the log in such a position, 
that I could see the place wdiere I had been in 
the bushes. I saw two dogs go into this httle thick- 
et, and three horsemen rode over the very spot where 
I had lain when asleep in the morning, and imme- 
diately horses and voices were at my back, around 
me, and over me. Two horses jumped over the 
log by the side of which I lay, one about ten feet 
from my feet, and the other within two yards from 
my head. The horses both saw me, took fright, 
and started to run ; but fortunately their riders, who 
were probably looking for me in the tops of the trees, 
or expecting to see me start before them in the 
woods, and run for my life, did not see me, and at- 
tributed the alarm of their horses to the black ap- 
pearance of the log, for I heard one of them say — 
'- Our horses are afraid of black logs — I wonder how 
they would stand the sight of the negro, if we should 
meet him." 

There must have been in the troop, at least twen- 
ty horsemen ; and the number of dogs was greater 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 413 

than I could count, as they ran in the woods. I 
knew, that all these men and dogs were in search 
of me, and that if they could find me, I should be 
hunted down like a wild beast. The dogs that had 
gone into the thicket where I had been, fortunate- 
ly for me, had not been trained to hunt negroes in 
the woods, and were probably brought out for the 
purpose of being trained. Doubtless, if some of 
the kept dogs, as they are called, of which there 
were certainly several in this large pack, had hap- 
pened to go into that thicket, instead of those that 
did go there, my race would soon have been run. 

I lay still by the side of the log for a long time 
after the horses, dogs, and men, had ceased to trou- 
ble the woods with their noise ; if it can be said tliat 
a man lies still, who is trembling in every joint, 
nerve, and muscle, like a dog lying upon a cake of 
ice; and when I arose and turned round, I found 
myself so completely bereft of understanding, that 
I could not tell south from north, nor east from west. 
I could not even distinguish the thicket of bushes, 
from whicli I had removed to come to this place, 
from the other bushes of the woods. I remained 
here all day, and at night it appeared to me, that 
the sun set in the south-east, After sundown, the 
moon appeared to my distempered judgment, to 
etand due north from me ; and all the stars were 
out of their places. Fortunately I had sense enough 
remaining to know, that it would not be safe for 
me to attempt to travel, until my brain had been 
restored to its ordinary stability ; which did not take 
35^^ 



414 NARRATIVE OF THE 

place until the third morning after my fright. The 
three days that I passed in this place, I reckon the 
most unhappy of my life ; for surely it is the height 
of human misery, to be oppressed with alienation of 
mind, and to be conscious of the affliction. 

Distracted as I was, I had determined never to 
quit this wood, and voluntarily return to slavery; 
and the joy I felt on the third morning, when I saw 
the sun rise in his proper place in the heavens ; the 
black log, the thicket of bushes, and all other things 
resume the positions in which I found them, may be 
imagined by those who have been saved from appa- 
rently hopeless shipwreck on a barren rock, in the 
midst of the ocean ; but cannnot be described by any 
but a poetic pen. 

I spent this day in making short excursions 
through the woods, for the purpose of ascertain- 
ing whether any road was near to me or not ; and 
in the afternoon I came to one, about a mile from 
my camp, which was broad, and had the appearance 
of being much travelled. It appeared to me to lead 
to the north. 

Awhile before sundown, I brought my bundle to 
this road, and lay down quietly to await the approach 
of night. When it was quite dark, except the light 
of the moon, which was now brilliant, I took to this 
road, and travelled all night, without hearing or 
seeing any person, and on the succeeding night, about 
two o'clock in the morning, I came to the margin of 
a river, so wide that I could not see across it ; but 
the fog was so dense at this time, that I could not 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 415 

have seeQ across a river of very moderate widlh. I 
procured a long pole, and sounded the depth of the 
water, which I found not very deep ; but as I could 
not see the opposite shore^ was afraid to attempt to 
ford the stream. 

In this dilemma, I turned back from the river, 
and went more than a mile to gain the cover of a 
small wood, where I might pass the day in safety, 
and wait a favourable moment for obtaining a view 
of the river, preparatory to crossing it. 1 lay all day 
in full view of the high road, and saw, at least, a 
hundred people pass ; from which I inferred, that 
the country was populous about me. In the even- 
ing, as soon as it was dark. I left my retreat, and 
returned to the river side. The atmosphere was 
now clear, and the river seemed to be at least a quar- 
ter of a mile in w^idth ; and whilst I was divesting 
myself of my clothes, preparatory to entering the wa- 
ter, happening to look down the shore, I saw a canoe, 
with its head drawn high on the beach. On reach- 
ing the canoe, I found that it was secured to the 
trunk of a tree by a lock and chain ; but after many 
efforts, I broke the lock and launched the canoe in- 
to the river. The paddles liad been removed, but 
with the aid of my sounding-pole, I managed to con- 
duct the canoe across the water. 

I was now once more in South Carolina, where 
I knew it was necessary for me to be even more 
watchful than I had been in Georgia. I do not 
know where I crossed the Savannah river, but I 



416 NARRATIVE OF THE 

think it must have been only a few miles above the 
town of Augusta. 

After gaining the Carolina shore, 1 took an ob- 
servation of the rising moon and of such stars as I 
was acquainted with, and hastened to get away from 
the river, from which I knew that heavy fogs rose 
every night, at this season of the year, obscuring 
the heavens for many miles on either side. I tra- 
velled this night at least twenty miles, and provided 
myself with a supply of corn, which was now hard, 
from a field at the side of the road. At daybreak 
I turned into the woods, and went to the top of 
a hill on my left, where the ground was overgrown 
by the species of pine-tree called spruce in the south. 
I here kindled a fire, and parched corn for my break- 
fast. 

In the afteinoon of this day the weather became 
cloudy, and before dark the rain fell copiously, and 
continued through the night, with the wind high. 
I took shelter under a large stooping tree that was 
deca)^ed and hollow on the lower side, and kept me 
dry until the morning. When daylight appeared, 
I could see that the country around me was well in- 
habited, and that the forest in which I lay was sur- 
rounded by plantations, at the distance of one or two 
miles from me. I did not consider this a safe posi- 
tion, and waited anxiously for night, to enable me to 
change my quarters. The weather was foul through- 
out the day ; and when night returned, it was so 
dark that I could not see a large tree three feet be- 
fore me. Waiting until the moon rose, I made my 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 417 

way back to tfie road, but had not proceeded more 
than two or three miles on my way, when I came 
to a place where the road forked, and the two roadg 
led away ahnost at right angles from each other. 
It was so cloudy that I could not see the place of 
the moon in the heavens, and I knew not which of 
these roads to take. To go wrong was worse than to 
stand still, and I therefore determined to look out for 
some spot in which I could hide myself, and remain 
in this neighlwurhood until the clearing up of the 
weather. Taking the right hand road, I followed 
its course until I saw at the distance, as I computed 
it in the night, of two miles from me a large forest 
which covered elevated ground. I gained it by the 
shortest route across some cotton fields. Going seve- 
ral huiulrt'd yards into this wood, I attempted to kin- 
dle a fire, in which 1 failed, every combustible sub- 
stance being wet. This compelled me to pass the 
night as well as I could amongst the damp bushes 
and trees that overhung me. When day came, I 
w^ent farther into the woods, and on the top of the 
liighest ground that I could see, established my camp, 
by cutting bushes with my knife, and erecting a sort 
of rude booth. 

It was now, by my computation, about the twen- 
ty-fifth of August, and I remained here eleven days 
without seeing one clear night ; and in all this time 
the sun never shone for half a day at once. I pro- 
cured my subsistence while here from a field of corn 
which I discovered at the distance of a mile and a 
half from my camp. This was the first time that I 



418 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



was weather-bound, and my patience had been worn 
out and renewed repeatedly before the return of the 
clear weather; but one afternoon I perceived the trees 
to be mucli agitated by the wind, the clouds appear- 
ed high, and were driven with velocity over niy head. 
I saw the clear sky appear in all its beauty, in the 
northwest. 

Before sundown the wind was high, the sun shone 
in full splendour, and a few fleecy clouds, careering 
high in the upper vault of heaven, gave assurance 
that the rains were over and gone. 

At nightfall I returned to the forks of the road, 
and after much observation, finally concluded to fol- 
low the right hand road, in which 1 am satisfied that 
I committed a great error. Nothing worthy of no- 
tice occurred for several days after this. As I was 
now in a thickly- peopled country, I never moved 
until long after night, and was cautious never to per- 
mit daylight to find me on the road ; but I observed 
that the north-star was always on my left hand. 
My object was to reach the neighbourhood of Colum- 
bia, and get upon the road which I had travelled 
and seen ^ years before in coming to the south; but 
the road I was now on must have been the great 
Charleston road, leading down the country, and not 
across the courses of the rivers. So many people 
travelled this road, as well by night as by day. that 
my progress was very slow ; and in some of the 
nights I did not travel more than eight miles. At 
the end of a week, after leaving the forks, I found 
myself in a flat, sandy, poor country ; and as I had 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 419 

not met with any river on this road, I now conclud- 
ed that 1 was on the way to the sea-board instead of 
Columbia. In my perplexity, I resolved to try to 
get information concerning the country I was in, by 
placing myself in some obscure place in the side of 
the road, and listening to the conversation of travel- 
lers as they passed me. For this purpose I chose 
the corner of a cotton field, around which the road 
turned, and led along the fence for some distance. 
Passing (he day in the woods among the pine-trees 
I came to this corner in the evening, and lying down 
within the field, waited patienlly the coming of tra- 
vellers, that I might hear their conversation, and en- 
deavour to learn from that which (hey said, the name 
at least of gome place in this neighbourhood. On 
the first and second evenings (hat 1 lay liere, I glean- 
ed nothing from the passengers that I thought could 
be of service to me; but on the third night, about ten 
o'clock, several wagons drawn by mules passed me, 
and I heard one of the drivers call to another and 
tell him that it was sixty miles to Charleston ; and 
that they should be able to reach the river to-mor- 
row. I could not at first imagine what river this 
could be ; but another of the wagoners enquired 
how far it was to the Edisto, to which it was replied 
by some one, that it was near thirty miles. I now 
perceived that I had mistaken my course; and 
was as completely lost as a wild goose in cloudy 
weather. 

Not knowing whcrt to do, I retraced the road that 
had led me to this place for several nights, hoping 



420 NARRATIVE OF THE 

that something would happen from which I might 
learn the route to Columbia ; but I gained no infor- 
mation that could avail me anything. At length 
I determined to quit this road altogether, travel by 
the north-star for two or three weeks, and after that 
to trust to Providence to guide m.e to some road that 
might lead me back to Maryland. Having turned 
my face due north, I made my way pretty well for 
the first night; but on the second, the fog was so 
dense that no stars could be seen. This compelled 
me to remain in my camp, which I had pitched in 
a swamp. In this place I remained more than a 
week, waiting for clear nights ; but now the equinoc- 
tial storm came on, and raged with a fury which I 
had never before witnessed in this annual gale ; at 
least it had never before appeared %o violent to me, 
because, perhaps, 1 had never been exposed to its 
blasts, without the shelter of a house of some kind. 
This storm continued four days ; and no wolf ever 
lay closer in his lair, or moved out wath more stealthy 
caution than I did during tbis time. My subsistence 
w^as drawn from a small corn-field at the edge of the 
swamp in w^hich I lay. 

After the storm was over, the weather became 
calm and clear, and 1 fell into a road wliich appear- 
ed to run nearly north-west. Following the course 
of this road by short marches, because I was obliged 
to start late at night and stop before day, I came on 
the first day, or rather night, of October, by my 
calender, to a broad and welffiequented road that 
crossed mine at nearly right angles. These roads 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 421 

crossed in the middle of a plantation, and I took to 
the right hand along this great road, and pursued it 
in the same cautious and slow manner that 1 liad 
travelled for the last month. 

When the day came I took refuge in the woods 
as usual, choosing the highest piece of ground that 
I could find in the neighbourhood. No part of this 
country was very high, but 1 thought people who 
visited these woods, would be le^s inclined to walk 
to the tops of the hills, than to keep their course along 
the low grounds. 

I had lately crossed many small streams; but on 
the second night of my journey on this road, came 
to a narrow but deep river, and after the most care- 
ful search, no boat or craft of any kind could be 
found on my side. A large flat, with two or three 
canoes, lay on the opposite side, but they were as 
much out of my reach as if they had never been 
made. There was no alternative but swimming 
this stream, and I made the transit in less than 
three minutes, carrying my packages on my back. 

1 had as yet fallen in with no considerable towns, 
and whenever 1 had seen a house near the road, or 
one of the small hamlets of the south in my Avay, 
I had gone round by the woods or fields, so as to 
avoid the inhabitants ; but on the fourth night after 
swimming the small river, I came in sight of a con- 
siderable village, with lights burning and shining 
through many of the w^indows. I knew the danger 
of passing a town, on account of the patrols with 
which all southern tow^ns are provided, and making 
36 



422 NARRATIVE OF THE 

a long circuit to the rigiit, so as totally to avoid this 
village, I came to the banks of a broad river, which, 
upon farther examination, I found flowing past the 
village, and near its border. This compelled me to 
go back, and attempt to turn the village on the left, 
which was performed by wandering a long time in 
swamps and pine woods. 

It was break of day when I regained the road be- 
yond the village, and returning to the swamps from 
which I had first issued, I passed the day under their 
cover. On the following night, after regaining the 
road^ I soon found myself in a country almost en- 
tirely clear of timber, and abounding in fields of cot- 
ton and corn. 

The houses were numerous, and the barking of 
dogs w^as incessant. I felt that I was in the midst 
of dangers, and that I was entering a region very 
different from those tracts of country through which 
I had lately passed, where the gloom of the wilder- 
ness was only broken by solitary plantations or lonely 
huts. I had no doubt that I was in the neighbour- 
hood of some town, but of its name, and the part of 
the country in which it was located, I was ignoiant. 
I at length found that I was receding from the v.oods 
altogether, and entering a champaign country, in 
the midst of which I now perceived a town of con- 
siderable magnitude, the inhabitants of which were 
entirely silent, and the town itself presented the ap- 
pearance of total solitude. The country around was 
so open, that I despaired of turning so large a place 
as this was, and again finding the road I travelled, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 423 

I therefore determined to risk all consequences, and 
attempt to pass this town under cover of darkness. 

Keeping straight forward, I came unexpectedly 
to a broad river, which I now saw running between 
me and the town. I took it for granted that there 
must he a ferry at tliis place, and on examining the 
shore, found several small boats fastened only with 
ropes to a large scow. One of these boats I seized, 
and was quickly on the opposite shore of the river. 
I entered the village and proceeded to its centre, 
without seeing so much as a rat in motion. Find- 
ing myself in an open space I stopped to examine 
the streets, and upon looking at the houses around 
me, I at once recognized the jail of Columbia, and 
the tavern in which I had lodged on the night after 
I was sold. 

This discovery made me feel almost at home, 
with my wife and children. I remembered the 
streets by which I had come from the country to the 
jail, and was quickly at the extremity of the tow^n, 
marching towards the residence of the paltry planter, 
at whose house I had lodged on my way south. It 
was late at night, when I left Columbia, and it was 
necessary for me to make all speed, and get as far 
as possible from that place before day. I ran rather 
than walked, until the appearance of dawn, when I 
left the road and took shelter in the pine woods, with 
which this part of the country abounds. 

I had now been travelling almost two months, 
and was still so near the place from w^iich I first de- 
parted, that I could easily have walked to it in a 



424 NARRATIVE OF THE 

week, by daylight ; but I hoped, that as I was now 
on a road with which I was acquainted, and in a 
country through whicli I had travelled before, that 
my future progress would be more rapid, and that I 
should be able to surmount, without difficulty, many 
of the obstacles that had hitherto embarrassed me so 
greatly. 

It was now in my power to avail m3'6elf of the 
knowledge I had formerly acquired, of the customs 
of South Carolina. The patrol are very rigid in the 
execution of the authority, with which they are in- 
vested ; but 1 never had much difficulty with these 
officers, anywhere. From dark until ten or eleven 
o'clock at night, the patrol are watclilul, and always 
traversing the country in quest of negroes, but to- 
wards midnight these gentlemen grow cold, or sleep}^, 
or weary, and generally betake themselves to some 
house, where they can procure a comfortable fire. 

I now established, as a rule of my future conduct, 
to remain in my hiding place until after ten o'clock, 
according to my computation of time ; and this 
night 1 did not come to the road, until I supposed it 
to be within an hour of midnight, and it was well for 
me that I practised so much caution, for when with- 
in two or three hundred yards of the road, I heard 
people conversing. After standing some minutes in 
the woods, and listening to the voices at the road, the 
people separated, and a party took each end of the 
road, and galloped away upon their horses. These 
people were certainly a band of patrollers, who were 
watching this road, and had just separated to return 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 425 

home for the night. After the horsemen were quite 
out of hearing, I came to the road, and walked as 
fast as I could for hours, and again came into the 
lane leading to the house, where I had first remain- 
ed a few days, in Carolina. Turning away from 
the road I passed through this plantation, near the 
old cotton-gin house, in which I had formerly lodg- 
ed, and perceived that every thing on this plantation 
was nearly as it was when I left it. l\vo or three 
miles from this place I again left the road, and 
sought a place of concealment, and from this time 
until 1 reached Maryland, 1 never remained in the 
road until daylight hut once., and I paid dearly then 
for my temerity. 

I was now in an open, thickly^peopled country, in 
comparison wiih many otiier tracts through which I 
had passed ; and this circumstance compelled me to 
observe the greater caution. As nearly as possible, I 
condned my travelling within the hours of midnight 
and three o'clock in the morning. Parties of patrol- 
lers were heard by me almost every morning, before 
day. These people sometimes i, oved directly along 
the roads, but more frequently lay in wait near the 
side of the road, ready to pc^mce upon any runaway 
slave that might chance to pass; but I knew by 
former experience that they never lay out all night 
except in times of apprehended danger ; and the 
country appearing at this time to be quiet, 1 felt but 
httle apprehension of falling in with these policemen, 
within my travelling hours. 

There was now plenty of corn in the fields, an4 
36* 



426 NARRATIVE OF THE 

sweet potatoes had not yet been dug. There ^vas 
no scarcity of provisions with me, and my health 
was good, and my strength unimpaired. For more 
than two weeks, I pursued the road that had led me 
from Columbia, beUeving I was on my way to Cam- 
den. Many small streams crossed my way, but 
none of them were large enough to oblige me to 
swim in crossing them. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

On the twenty-fourth of October, according to my 
computation, in a dark night, I came to a river, 
which appeared to be both broad and deep. Sound- 
hig its depth with a pole, I found it too deep to be 
forded, and after the most careful search along the 
shore, no boat could be discovered. Tliis place ap- 
peared altogether strange to me, and I began to fear 
that I was again lost. Confident that I had never 
before been where I now found myself, and ignorant 
of the other side of the stream, I thought it best not 
to attempt to cross this \vater until I was better in- 
formed of the country through wliich it flowed. A 
thick wood bordered the road on my left, and gave 
me shelter until daylight. Ascending a tree at sun- 
rise, that overlooked the stream, which appeared to 
be more than a mile in width, I perceived on the op- 
posite shore a house, and one large, and several 
small boats in the river. I remained in this tree the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 427 

greater part of the day, and saw several persons 
cross the river, some of whom had horses ; but in the 
evening the boats were all taken back to the place at 
which 1 had seen tliem in the morning. The river 
was so broad, that I felt some fear of failing in the 
attempt to swim it ; but seeing no prospect of procu- 
rmg a boat to transport me, I resolved to attempt the 
navigation as soun as it was dark. About nine 
o'clock at night, having equipped myself in the best 
manner I was able, I undertook this hazardous nav- 
igation, and succeeded in gaining the farther shore 
of the river, in about an hour, with all my things in 
safety. On the previous day I had noted the bear- 
ing of the road, as it led from the river, and in the 
middle of the night I again resumed my journey, in 
a state of perplexity bordering upon desperation ; for 
it was now evident that this was not tlie road by 
which we had travelled when we canje to the south- 
ern country, and on which hand to turn to reach the 
right way, I knew not. 

After travelhng five or six miles on this road, and 
having tlie north-.-tar in view all the time, I became 
saii-fied that my course lay northwest, and that I 
was consequently going out of my way ; and to 
heighten my anxiety, I had not tasted any animal 
food since I crossed the Savannah river— a sensation 
of hunger harrassed me constantly; but fortune, 
which had been so long adverse to me, and had led 
me so often astray, had now a little favour in store 
for me. The leaves were already fallen from some 
of the more tender trees, and near the road I this 



428 NARRATIVE OF THE 

night perceived a persimmon tree, well laden with 
fruit, and whilst gathering the fallen persimmons 
under the tree, a noise over head arrested my atten- 
tion. This noise was caused by a large opossum, 
which was on the tree gathering fruit like myself. 
With a long stick the animal was brought to the 
ground, and it proved to l)e very fat, weighing at 
least ten pounds. With such a luxury as this in my 
possession, I could not think of travelling far without 
tasting it, and accordingly halted about a mile from 
the persimmon tree, on a rising ground in a thick 
wood, where I killed my opossum, and took off its 
skin, a circumstance that I much regretted, for with 
the skin I took at least a pound of fine fat. Had I 
possessed the means of scalding njy game, and dress- 
ing it like a pig, it would have afforded me provision 
for a week ; but as it was, I made a large fire and 
roasted my prize before it, losing all the oil that ran 
out ill the operation, for want of a dripping-pan to 
catch it. It was daylight when my meat was ready 
for the table, and a very sumptuous breakfast it 
yielded me. 

Since leaving Columbia, 1 had followed as nearly 
as the course of the roads permitted, the index of the 
nortli-star; which, I supposed, would lead me on 
the most direct route to Maryland ; but I now be- 
came convinced, that this star was leading me away 
from the line by which I had approached the cotton 
country. 

I slept none this day, but passed the whole time, 
from breakfast until night, in considering the means 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 429 

of regaining my lost way. From the aspect of the 
country I arrived at the conclusion, that I was not 
near the sea-coast ; for there were no swamps in all 
this region ; the land lay rather high and rolling, 
and oak timber abounded. 

At the return of night, I resumed my journey ear- 
lier than usual : paying no regard to the roads, but 
keeping the north-star on my left hand, as nearly as 
I could. This night I killed a rabbit, which had 
leaped from the bushes before me, by^throwing my 
walking stick at it. It was roasted at my stopping 
place in the morning, and was very good. 

1 pursued the same course, keeping the north-star 
on my left hand for three nights ; intending to get 
as far east as the road leading from Columbia to 
Richmond, in Virginia ; but as my hue of march 
lay almost continually in the woods, I made but little 
progress ; and on the third day, the weather be- 
came cloudy, so that 1 could not see the stars. This 
again compelled me to lie by, until the return of fair 
weather. 

On the second da)-, after I had stopped this time, 
the sun shone out bright in the morning, and contin- 
ued to shed a glorious light during the day ; but in 
the evening, the heavens became overcast with 
clouds ; and the night that followed was so dark, that 
I did not attempt to travel. This state of the weath- 
er continued more than a week : obliging me to re- 
main stationary all this time. These cloudy nights 
were succeeded by a brisk wind from the north-west, 
accompanied by fine clear nights, in which 1 made 



430 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the best of my way towards the north-east, pursuing 
my course ^across the country without regard to 
roads, forests, or streams of water : crossing many of 
the latter, none of wiiich were deep, but some of 
them were extremely muddy. One night I became 
entangled in a thick and deep swamp ; the trees that 
grew in which, were so tall, and stood so close to- 
gether, that the interlocking of their boughs, and the 
deep foliage in which they were clad, prevented me 
from seeing the stars. Wandering there for several 
hours, most of the time with mud and water over 
my knees, and frequently wading in stagnant pools, 
with deep slimy bottoms, I became totally lost, and 
was incapable of seeing the least appearance of fast 
land. At length, giving up all liope of extricating 
myself from this abyss of mud, water, brambles, and 
fallen timber, I scrambled on a large tussock, and 
sat down to await the coming of day, with the in- 
tention of going to the nearest high land, as soon as 
the sun should i)e up. The nights were now be- 
coming cool, and though I did not see any frost in 
the swamp where I was in the morning, 1 have no 
doubt, that hoar frost was seen in the dry and open 
country. After daylight 1 found myself as much 
perplexed as I was at midnight. No shore was to 
be seen ; and in every direction there was the same 
deep, dreary, black solitude. To add to my misfor- 
tune, the morning proved cloudly, and when the sun 
was up, I could not tell the east from the west. Af- 
ter waiting several hours for a sight of the^un, and 
failing to obtain it, I set out in search of a running 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 431 

Stream of water, intending to strike off at rio-ht an- 
gels, wall the course of the current, a.,d encfeavour 
to reach the dry ground by this means: but after 
wandermg about, through tangled bushes, briars 
and vines, clambering over fallen tree-tops, and wa- 
ding through fens overgrown with saw grass, for two 
or three hours, I sat down in despair of finding any 
giude to conduct me from this detestable place. 

My bag of meal ihat I took wilh me at the com- 
mencement of my journey, was long since gone • 
and the only provisions that I now possessed, were 
a few grams of parched corn, and near a pint of 
chestnuts that 1 had picked up under a tree the day 
before I entered the swamp. The chestnut-tree 
was full of nuts, but I was afraid to throw sticks or 
to shake the tree, lest hunters or other persons hear- 
ing the noisi', might be drawn to the place. 

--Vbout ten o'clock I sat down under a laio-e 
cj-press tree, upon a decaying log of the sam,- tim- 
ber, to make my breakfast on a few grains of parch- 
ed corn. Near me was an open space without trees, 
but filled with water that seemed to be deep, for no 
grass grew in it, except a small quantity near the 
shore. The water was on my left hand, and as 1 
sat cracking my corn, my attention was attracted ' 
by the playful gambols of two squirrels that were 
running and chasing each other on the boughs of 
some trees near me. Half pleased with the joyous 
movements of the little animals, and half covetous 
of their carcasses, to roast and devour them, I paid no 
attention to a succession of sounds on my left, which 



432 NARRATIVE OF THE 

I thought proceeded from the movement of frogs 
at the edge of the water, until the breaking of a 
stick near me caused me to turn my head, when I 
discovered that I had other neighbours than spring- 
frogs. 

A monstrous alhgator had left the water, and was 
crawling over the mud, with his eyes fixed upon 
me. He was now within fifteen feet of me. and in 
a moment more, if he had not broken the stick with 
his weight, I should have become his prey. He 
could easily have knocked me down with a blow of 
his tail ; and if his jaws had once been closed on 
a leg or an arm, he would have dragged me into 
the water, spite of any resistance that I could have 
made. 

At the sight of him, I sprang to my feet, and run- 
ning to the other end of the fallen tree on which 1 
sat, and being there out of danger, had an opportu- 
nity of viewing the motions of the alligator at leisure. 
Finding me out of his reach, he raised his trunk from 
the ground, elevated his snout, and gave a wistful 
look, the import of which I well understood ; then 
turning slowly round, he retreated to the water, and 
sank from my vision. 

I was much alarmed by this adventure with the 
alligator, for had I fallen in with this huge reptile 
in the night-time, I should have had no chance of 
escape from his tusks. 

The whole day was spent in the swamp, not in 
travelUng from place to place, but in waiting for the 
sun to 'shine, to enable me to obtain a knowledge 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 433 

of the various points of the heavens. The day was 
succeeded by a night of unbroken darkness ; and 
it was late in the evening of the second day before 
I saw the sun. It being then too late to attempt to 
extricate myself from the swamp for that day, I 
was obliged to pass another night in the lodge 
that I had formed for myself in the thick boughs 
of a fallen cypress tree, which elevated me several 
feet from the ground, where I believed the alliga- 
tor could not reach me, if he should come in pursuit 
of me. 

On the morning of the tliird day, the sun rose 
beautifully clear, and at sight of him I set off for the 
east. It must have been five miles from the place 
where I lay to the dry land on the east of the 
swamp ; for with all the exertion that fear and hun- 
ger comj)elled me to make, it was two or three 
o'clock in the afternoon when I reached the shore 
after swimming in several places, and suffering the 
loss of a very valuable part of my clothes, which 
were torn off i3y the l)riars and snags. On coming 
to high ground I found myself in the woods, and 
hungry as I was, lay down to await the coming of 
night, lest some one should see me moving through 
the forest in daylight. 

When night came on, I resumed my journey by 
the stars, which were visible, and marched several 
miles before coming to a plantation. The first that 
I came to was a cotton field : and after much search 
I found no corn nor grain of any kind on this place 
and was compelled to continue on my way 
37 



434 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Two or three miles further on, I was more fortu- 
nate, and found a field of corn which had been 
gathered from the stalks and thrown in heaps along 
the ground. Filling my Uttle bag, which I still 
kept, with this corn, I retreated a mile or two in the 
woods, and striking fire, encamped for the purpose of 
parching and eating it. After despatching my meal, 
1 lay down beside the fire and fell into a sound sleep, 
from which I did not awake until long after sun- 
rise ; but on rising and looking around me, 1 found 
that my lodge was within less than a hundred yards 
of a new house that people were building in the 
woods, and upon which men were now a(. work. 
Dropping instantly to tlie ground, I crawled away 
through the woods, until being out of sight of the 
house, I ventured to rise and escape on my feet. 
After I lay down in the night, my fire had died away, 
and emitted no smoke ; this circumstance saved me. 
This affair made me more cautious as to my future 
conduct. 

Hiding in the woods until night again came on, I 
continued my course eastward, and some time after 
midnight came upon a wide, well beaten road, one 
end of which led, at this place, a little to the left of 
the north-star, which I could plainly see. Here I 
deliberated^ long time, whether to take this road, or 
continue my course across the country by the stars ; 
but at last resolved to follow the road, more from a 
desire to get out of the woods, than from a conviction 
that it would lead me in the right way. In the 
course of this night I saw but few plantations, but 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 435 

was SO fortunate as to see a ground-hog crossing the 
road before nie. This animal 1 killed with my stick, 
and carried it until morning. 

At the approacli of daylight, turning away to the 
right, I gained the top of an eminence, from vvhicli 
I could see through the woods for some distance 
around me. Here I kindled a fire and roasted my 
ground-hog, which aHbrded me a most grateful re- 
past, after my late fasting and severe toils. xVccord- 
ing to custom, my meal being over, I betook myself 
to sleep, and did not awake until the afternoon; 
when descending a few roils down the hill, and 
standing still to take a survey of the woods around 
me, 1 saW; at the distance of half a mile from me, a 
man moving slowly about in the forest, and appa- 
rently watching, like myself, to see if any one was 
in view. Looking at this man attentively, I saw that 
he was a black, and that he did not move more than 
a few rotls from the same spot where I lirst saw 
him. Curiosity impelled me to know more of the 
condition of my neighbour ; and descending quite 
to the foot of the hill, I perceived that he had a 
covert of boughs of trees, under which I saw him 
pass, and afler some time return again from his re- 
treat. Examining- the appearance of things care- 
fully, I became satisfied that the stranger wa:?, like 
myself, a negro slave, and I determined, without 
more ceremony, to go and speak to him, for I felt no 
fear of being betrayed by one as badly off in the 
world as myself. 

When this man first saw me, at the distance of a 



436 NARRATIVE OF THE 

hundred yards from him, he manifested great agita- 
lion, and at once schemed disposed to run from me ; 
but when I called to him, and told him not to be 
afraid, he became more assured, and waited for me 
to come close to him. I found him to be a dark 
mulatto, small and slender in person, and lame in 
one leg. He had. been well bred, and possessed 
good manners and fine address. I told him I was 
travelling, and presumed this was not his dwelling- 
place. Upon which he informed me that he was a 
native of Kent county, in the state of Delaware, and 
had been brought up as a house-servant by his mas- 
ter, who, on his death-bed, had made his will, and 
directed him to be set free by his executors, at the age 
of twenty-five, and that in the meantime he would 
be hired out as a servant to some person who should 
treat him well. Soon after the death of his master, 
the executors hired him to a man in Wilmington, 
who employed him as a waiter in his house for three 
or four months, and then took him to a small town 
called Newport, and sold him to a man who took 
him immediately to Baltimore, where he was again 
sold or transferred to another man, who brought 
him to South Carolina, and sold him to a cotton 
planter, with whom he had Uved more than two 
years, and had run away three weeks before the 
time I saw him, with the intention of returning to 
Delaware. 

That being lame, and becoming fatigued by tra- 
velling, he had stopped here and made this shelter 
of boughs and bark of trees, under which he had 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 437 

remained more than a week before I met him. He 
invited me to go into his camp, as he termed it, 
where he had an old skillet, more than a bushel of 
potatoes, and several fowls, all of which he said he 
had purloined from the [)lantations in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

This encampment was in a level open wood, and 
it appeared sur[)rirfing to me that its occupant had 
not been di>covered and conveyed back to hi^ mas- 
ter before this time. I told liini ihu I thought he 
ran great risk of bring tak»m up l)y remaining here, 
and advised him to break up his lodge inmiediately, 
and [)ursue his journey, travelling only in the night 
time. He then [)roposed to join me, and travel in 
company with me ; but this I declined, because of 
his lameness and great want of discretion, though I 
did not assign these reasons to him. 

I remained with this man two or three hours, 
and ate dinner of fowls dressed after his rude fash- 
ion. Before leaving him, I pressed upon him the 
necessity of inunediately cpiitting the position he then 
occupied ; but he said he intended to remain there 
a few days longer, unless I would take him with 
me. 

On quitting my new acquaintance, I thought it 
prudent to change my place of abode for the residue 
of this day, and removed along the top of the hill 
that 1 occupied at least two miles, and concealed 
myself in a thicket until night, when returning to 
the road I had left in the morning, and travelling 
hard all night, I came to a large stream of water 
37* 



438 NARRATIVE OF THE 

just at the break of day. As it was too late to pass 
the river with safety this morning, at this ford, I 
went iialf a mile higher, and swam across the stream 
in open daylight, at a place where both sides of the 
water w^ere skirted with woods. I bad several large 
potatoes that had been given to me by the man at 
his camp in the woods, and these constituted my 
rations for this day. 

At the rising and setting of the sun, I took the bear- 
ing of the road by the course of the stream that I 
had crossed, and found that I was travelling to the 
northwest, instead of the north or northeast, to one 
of which latter points I wished to direct my march. 

Having perceived the country in which I now 
was to be thickly peopled, I remained in my resting 
place until late at night, when returning to the road, 
and crossing it, I took once more to the woods, with 
the stars for my guides, and steered for the north- 
east. 

This was a fortunate night for me in all respects. 
The atmosphere was clear, the ground was high, 
dry, and free from thickets. In the course of the 
night I passed several corn fields, with the corn still 
remaining in them, and passed a potato lot, in which 
large quantities of fine potatoes were dug out of the 
ground, and lay in heaps covered with vines ; but 
my most signal good luck occurred just before day, 
when passing under a dog-wood tree, and hearing a 
noise in the branches above me, I looked up and saw 
a large opossum amongst the berries that hung upon 
the boughs. The game was quickly shaken down, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 439 

and turned out as fat as a well-fed pig, and as heavy 
as a full-grown rackoon. My attention was now 
turned to searching for a place in which I could se- 
crete myself for the day, and dress my provisions in 
quietness. 

This day was clear and beautiful until the after- 
noon, when the air became damp, and the heavens 
were overhung with clouds. The night that fol- 
lowed was dark as pitch, compelling me to remain 
in my camp all night. The next day brought 
with it a terrible storm of rain and wind, that con- 
tinued with but little intermission, more than twen- 
ty-four hours, and the sun was not again visible 
until (he third day; nor was there a clear night for 
more I ban a week. During all this time I lay in my 
camp, and subsisted upon the provisions that I had 
brought with me to this place. The corn and pota- 
toes looked so tempting, when I saw them in the 
fields, that I had taken more than I should have 
consumed, had not the bad weather compelled me to 
remain at this spot ; but it was well for me, for this 
time, that I had taken more than I could eat in one 
or two days. 

At the end of the cloudy weather, I felt much re- 
freshed and strengthened, and resumed my journey 
in high spirits, although I now began to feel the 
want of shoes — those which I wore when I left 
my mistress having long since been worn out, and 
my boots were now beginning to fail so much, that I 
was obliged to wrap straps of hickory bark about my 



440 NARRATIVE OF THE 

feet to keep the leather from separating, and faUing 
to pieces. 

It was now, by my computation, the month of 
November, and I was yet in the state of South Ca- 
roHna. I began to consider with myself, whether 1 
had gained or lost, by attempting to travel on 'the 
roads ; and, after revolving in my mind all the dis- 
asters that had befallen me, determined to abandon 
the roads altogether, for two reasons : — the first of 
which was, that on the highways, I was constant- 
ly Hable to meet persons, or to be overtaken by 
them ; and a second, no less powerful, was, that 
as I did not know what roads to pursue, I was 
oftener travelling on the wrong route than on the 
right one. 

Setting my face once more for the north-star, I 
advanced with a steady, though slow pace, for four 
or five nights, when I was again delayed by dark 
weather, and forced to remain in idleness nearly two 
weeks ; and when the weather again became clear, 
I was arrested, on the second night, by a broad and 
rapid river, that appeared so formidable, that I did 
not dare to attempt its passage, until after examin- 
ing it in daylight. On the succeeding night, how- 
ever, I crossed it by swimming — resting ar some 
large rocks near the middle. After gaining the 
north side of this river, which I believed to be the 
Catawba, I considered myself in North Carolina, and- 
again steered towards the north. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 441 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The month of November is, in all years, a season 
of cloiids'and vapours ; but at the time of which 1 
write, the good weather vanished early in^the month, 
and all the clouds of the universe seemed to have col- 
lected in North Carolina. From the second night 
after crossing the Catawba, I did not see the north- 
star for the space of three weeks ; and during all this 
time, no progress w'as made in my journey ; al- 
though 1 seldom remained two days in the same 
place, but moved from one position to another, for 
the purpose of eluding the observation of the people 
of the country, whose attention might have been at- 
tracted by the continual appearance of the smoke of 
my fires in one place. 

There had, as yet, been no hard frost, and the 
leaves were still on the oak trees, at the close of this 
cloudy weather ; but the northwest wind which dis- 
pelled the mist, also brought down nearly all the 
leaves of the forest, except those of the evergreen 
trees ; and the nights now became clear, and the 
air keen with frost. Hitherto the oak woods had 
afforded me the safest shelter, but now I was obliged 
to seek for groves of young pines to retire to at dawn. 
Heretofore 1 had found a plentiful subsistence in 
every corn-field and potato-lot, that fell in my way : 
but now began to find some of the fields in w^hich 
corn had grown, destitute of the corn, and contain- 
ing nothing but the stalks. The potatoes had all 



442 NARRATIVE OF THE 

been taken out of the lots where they grew, except 
in some few instances where they had been buried 
in the field ; and the means of subsistence became 
every day more difficult to be obtained ; but as 1 had 
fine weather, 1 made the best use of those hours in 
which I dared to travel, and was constantly moving 
from a short time after dark until daylight. The 
toil that I underwent for the first half of the month 
of December was excessive, and my sufferings for 
w^ant of food were great. I was obliged to carry 
with me a stock of corn, sufficient to supply me for 
two or three days ; for it frequently happened that I 
met with none in the fields for a long time. In the 
course of this period, I crossed innumerable streams, 
the greater portion of which were of small size, but 
some w^ere of considerable magnitude ; and in all of 
them the water had become almost as cold as ice. 
Sometimes I was fortunate enough to find boats or 
canoes tied at the side of the streams, and when this 
happened, I always made free use of that which no 
one else was using at the time ; but this did not oc- 
cur often, and I believe that in these two weeks I 
swam over nine rivers, or streams, so deep, that I 
could not ford them. The number of creeks and 
rivulets through which I waded, was far greater ; but 
I cannot now fix the number. 

In one of these fine nights, passing near the house 
of a planter, I saw several dry hides hanging on 
poles, under a shed. One of these hides I appropri- 
ated to myself, for the purpose of converting it into 
moccasins, to supply the place of my boots, which 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 443 

were totally worthless. By beating the dry hide 
with a stick it was made sufficiently pliable to 
bear making it into moccasins ; of which I made 
for myself three pair, wearing one, and carrying the 
others on my back. 

One day as I lay in a pine thicket, several pigs, 
which appeared to be wild, having no marks on their 
ears, came near me, and one of them approached so 
close without seeing me, that I knocked it down with 
a stone, and succeeded in killing it. This pig was 
very fat, and would have weighed thirty if not 
forty poimds. Feeling now greatly exhausted with 
the fatigues that 1 had lately undergone, and being 
in a very great forest, far removed from white inha- 
bitants, I resolved to remain a few days in this place, 
to regale myself with the flesh of the pig, which I 
preserved by hanging it up in the shade, after cut- 
ting it into pieces. Fortune, so adverse to me here- 
tofore, seemed to have been more kind to me at this 
time, for the very night succeeding the day on which 
1 killed the pig. a storm of hail, snow, and sleet, 
came on, and continued fifteen or sixteen hours. 
The snow lay on the ground four inches in depth, 
and the whole country was covered with a crust al- 
most hard enough to bear a man. In this state of 
the weather I could not travel, and my stock of 
pork was invakiable to me. The pork was frozen 
w^here it hung on the branches of the trees, and was 
as well preserved as if it had been buried in snow ; 
but on the fourth day after the sno\v fell, the atmo- 
sphere underw^ent a great change. The wind blew 



444 NARRATIVE OF THE 

from the south, the snow melted away, the air be- 
came warm, and the sun shone with the brightness, 
and ahnost with the warmth of spring. It was 
manifest that my pork, which was now soft and 
oily, would not long be in a sound state. If I re- 
mained here, my provisions would become putrid 
on my hands in a short time, and compel me 
to quit my residence to avoid the atmosphere of the 
place. 

I resolved to pursue my journey, and prepared 
m3^self, by roasting before the fire, all my pork that 
was left, wrapping it up carefully in green pine 
leaves, and enveloping the whole in a sort of close 
basket, that I made of small boughs of trees. 
Equipping myself for my journey with my meat 
in my knapsack, I again took to the woods, with 
the stars for my guide, keeping the north-star over 
my left eye. 

The weather had now become exceedingly varia- 
ble, and I was seldom able to travel more than half 
of the night. The fields were muddy, the low 
grounds in the woods were wet, and often covered 
with water, through which I was obliged to wade — 
the air was damp and cold by day, the nights were 
frosty, very often covering the water with ice an 
inch in thickness. From the great degree of cold 
that prevailed, I inferred, either that I was pretty far 
north, or that I had advanced too much to the left, 
and was approaching the mountain country. 

To satisfy myself as far as possible of my situa- 
tion, one fair day, when the sky was very clear, I 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 445 

climbed to tlie top of a pine-tree that stood on the 
siinnnit of a hill, and took a wide survey of the re- 
gion around rne. Eastward, I saw nothing but a 
vast continuation of plantations, intervened by for- 
ests ; on the south, the faint beams of a winter sun 
shed a soft lustre over the woods, which were dotted 
at remote distances, with the habitations of men, and 
the openings that they had made in tbe green cham- 
piign of the endless pine-groves, that nature had 
planted in the direction of the midday sun. On 
the north, at a great distance, I saw a tract of low 
and Hat country, which, in my opinion, was the 
vale of some great river, and beyond this, at the 
farthest stretch of vision,' the eye was lost in the blue 
transparent vault, where the extremity of the arch 
of the world touches the abode of perpetual winter. 
Turning westward, the view passed beyond the re- 
gion of pine-trees, which was followed afar off by 
naked and leafless oaks, hickories, and walnuts ; and 
still beyond these rose high in air, elevated tracts 
of country, clad in the white livery of snow, and 
bearing the impress of mid-winter. 

It was now apparent that I had borne too far west- 
ward, and was within a few days travel of the 
mountains. Descending from my observations, I 
determined, on the return of night, to shape my 
course, for the future, nearly due east, until 1 should 
at least be out of the mountains. 

According to my calendar, it was the day before 
Christmas that I ascended the pine-tree ; and I 
believe I was at that time in the north-western 
38 



446 NARRATIVE OF THE 

part of North Carolina, not far from the banks of 
the Yadkin river. On the following night I tra- 
velled from dark until, as I supposed, about three 
or four o'clock in the morning, when I came to a 
road which led, as I thought, in an easterly direction. 
This road I travelled until daylight, and encamped 
near it in an old field, overgrown with young pines, 
and holly-trees. 

This w^as Christmas-day, and I celebrated it by 
breakfasting on fat pork, without salt, and substi- 
tuted parclied corn for bread. In the evening, the 
weather became cloudy and cold, and when night 
came, it was so dark, that I found difficulty in keep- 
ing in the road, at some points where it made short 
angles. Before midnight it began to snow, and 
at break of day the snow^ lay more than a foot deep. 
This compelled me to seek winter quarters ; and 
fortunately, at about half a mile from the road, 
I found, on the side of a steep hill, a shelving 
rock that formed a dry covert, with a southern 
prospect. 

Under this rock 1 took refuge, and kindling a fire 
of dry sticks, considered myself happy to possess a 
few pounds of my roasted pork, and more than 
half a gallon of corn that I carried in my pockets. 
The snow continued faUing, until it was full two 
feet deep around me, and the danger of exposing 
mvself to discovery by my tracks in the snow, com- 
pelled me to keep close to my hiding place until the 
third day, when I ventured to go back to the road, 
which I found broken by the passage of numerous 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 447 

wagons, sleds, and horses, and so much beaten that 
I could travel it with ease at night, the snow afibrd- 
ing good Ught. 

Accordingly at night I again advanced on my 
way, which indeed I was obliged to do, for my corn 
was quite gone, and not more than a pound of my 
pork remained to me. I travelled hard through the 
night, and afier the morning star rose, came to a riv- 
er, which 1 think must have been the Yadkin. It 
appeared to be about two hundred yards wide, and 
tlie water ran with great rapidity in it. 

Waiting until tlie eastern horizon was tinged with 
the first rays of the morning light, I entered tlie river 
at the ford, and waded until the water was nearly 
three feet deep, when it felt as if it was cutting the 
flesh from the bones of my limbs, and a large cake 
of ice floating downward, forced me off my balance, 
and 1 was near falling. My courage failed me, and 
I returned to the shore ; but found the pain that al- 
ready tormented me, greatly increased, when I was 
out of the water, and exposed to the action of the 
open air. Returning to the river, 1 plunged into the 
current to relieve me from the pinching frost, that 
gnawed every part of my skin that had become wet ; 
and rushing forward as fast as the weight of the 
water, that pressed me downward, would permit, 
was soon up to my chin in melted ice, when rising 
to the surface, I exerted my utmost strength and 
skill to gain the opposite shore by swimming in the 
shortest space of time. At every stroke of my arms 
and legs, they were cut and bruised by cakes of solid 



448 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ice, or weighed down by floating masses of congeal- 
ed snow. 

It is impossible for human Hfe to be long sustain- 
ed in such an element as that which encompassed 
me ; and I had not been afloat five minutes before 1 
felt chilled in all my members, and in less than the 
double of that time, my limbs felt numbed, and my 
hands became stiff, and almost powerless. 

When at the distance of thirty feet from the shoie, 
my body was struck by a violent current, produced 
by a projecting rock above me, and driven with re- 
sistless violence down the stream. Wholly unable 
to contend with the fury of the waves, and penetra- 
ted by the coldness of death, in my inmost vitals, I 
gave myself up for lost, and \\as commending my 
soul to God, whom I expected to be my immediate 
judge, when I perceived the long hanging branch of 
a large tree, sweeping to and fro, and undulating 
backward and forward, as its extrennlies were wash- 
ed by the surging current of the liver, just below me. 
In a moment I was in contact with the tree, and 
making the effort of despair, seized one of its limbs. 
Bowed down by the weight of my body, the branch 
yielded to the power of the water, which rushing 
against my person, swept me round like the quad- 
rant of a circle, and dashed me against the shore, 
wdiere clinging to some roots that grew near the 
bank, the limb of the tree left me, and springing 
with elastic force to its former position, again dipped 
its slender branches in the mad stream. 

Crawling out of the water, and being once more 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 449 

Oil dry land, I found my circumstances little less des- 
perate, than when 1 was struggling with the floating 
ice. The morning was frosty, and icicles hung in 
long pendant groups from the trees along the shore of 
the river, and the hoar frost glistened in sparkling ra- 
diance, upon the polished surface of the smooth snow, 
as it whitened all the plain before me, and spread its 
chill but beautiful covering through the woods. 

There were three alternatives before me, one of 
which I knew must quickly be adopted. The one 
was to obtain a fire, by which I could dry and warm 
my slifiened limbs ; the second was to die, without 
the fire ; the third, to go to the first house, if I could 
reacli one, and surrender myself as a runaway slave. 

Staggering, rather than walking forward, until I 
gained the cover of a wood, at a short distance from 
the river, I turned into it, and found that a field bor- 
dered the wood within less than twenty rods of the 
road. Within a few yards of this fence I stopped, 
and taking out my fire apparatus, to my unspeakable 
joy, found them dry and in perfect safety. With 
the aid of my spunk, and some dry moss gathered 
from the fence, a small flame was obtained, to v/hich 
dry leaves being added from the boughs of a white 
oak tree, that had fallen before the frost of the last 
autumn had commenced, I soon had fire of sufficient 
intensity, to consume dry wood, with which I sup- 
plied it, partly from the fence, and partly from the 
branches of the fallen tree. Having raked away the 
snow from about the fire, by the time the sun was 
up, my frozen clothes were smoking before the 
38* 



450 NARRATIVE OF THE 

coals — warming first one side and then the other — ■ 
1 felt the glow of returning life, once more invigora- 
ting my blood, and giving animation to my frozen 
limbs. 

The public road was near me on one hand, and 
an enclosed field was before me on the other, but m 
my present condition, it was impossible for me to 
leave this place to-day, without danger of perishing 
in the woods, or of being arrested on the road. 

As evening came on, the air became much colder 
than it was in the forenoon, and after night the wind 
rose high, and blew from the northwest, with in- 
tense keenness. My limbs were 3'et stiff from the 
eflects of my morning adventure, and to complete 
my distress, I was totally without provisions, having 
left a few ears of corn, that 1 had in my pocket, on 
the other side of the river. 

JiCaving my fire in the night, and advancing into 
the field near me, I discovered a house at so i.e dis- 
tance, and as there was no light, or sign of fire about 
it, ] determined to reconnoitre the premises, which 
turned out to he a small barn, standing alone, with 
no other inhabitants about it than a few cattle and 
a flock of sheep. After much trouble, 1 succeeded in 
entering the barn by starting the nails that confined 
one of the boards at the corner. Entering the house 
1 found ii nearly filled with corn, in the husks, and 
some from which the husks had been removed, was 
lying in a heap, in one corner. 

Into these husks I crawled, and covering myself 
deeply under them, soon became warm, and fell into 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 451 

a profound sleep, from which I was awakened by 
the noise of people walking about in the barn, and 
talking of the cattle and sheep, which it appeared 
they had come to feed, for they soon commenced 
working in the corn husks, with which I was cover- 
ed, and throwing them out to the cattle. I expected 
at every moment that they would uncover me; but 
fortunately before they saw me, ihey ceased their 
operations, and went to work, some husking corn, 
and throwing the husks on the pile over me, while 
others were employed in loading the husked corn 
into carts, as I learned by ihcir conversation, and 
hauling it away to the house. The people contin- 
ued working in the barn all day, and in the evening 
gave more husks to the cattle and went home. 

Waiting two or throe hours afier my visiters were 
gone, I rose from the pile of husks, and filling my 
pockets with ears of corn, issued from the barn, at 
the same [)lace by which 1 had entered it, and re- 
turned to the woods, where I kindled a fire in a pine 
thicket, and parched more than half a gallon of corn. 
Before day I returned to the barn, and again secreted 
myself in the corn husks, in the morning the peo- 
ple again returned to their work, and husked corn 
until the evening. At night, T again repaired to the 
woods, and parched more corn. In this manner I 
passed more than a month, lying in the barn all 
day, and going to the woods at night ; but at length 
the corn was all husked, and 1 watched daily the 
progress that was made in feeding the cattle with the 
husks, knowing that I must quit my winter retreat. 



452 NARRATIVE OF THE 

before the husks were exhausted. Before the husk- 
ed corn was removed from the barn, 1 had conveyed 
several bushels of the ears into the husks, near my 
bed, and concealed them for my winter's stock. 

Whilst I lay in this barn, there were frequent and 
great changes of weather. The snow that covered 
the earth to the depth of two feet, when I came here, 
did not remain more tlian ten days, and was suc- 
ceeded by more than a week of warm rainy w^eath- 
er, which was in turn succeeded by several da3^s of 
dry weather, with cold high winds from the north. 
The month of February was cloudy and damp, with 
several squalls of snow and frequent rains. About 
the first of March, the atmosphere became clear and 
dry, and the winds boisterous from the west. 

On the third of this month, having filled my little 
bag and all my packets with parched corn, I quitted 
my winter quarters about ten o'clock at night, and 
again proceeded on my way to the north, leaving a 
large heap of corn husks still lying in the corner of 
the barn. 

Oa leaving this place, I again pursued the road 
that had led me to it, for several nights ; crossing 
many small streams in my way, all of wbich I was 
able to pass without swimming, though several of 
them were so deep, that they wet me as high as my 
arm-pits. This road led nearly northeast, and was 
the only road that I had fallen in with, since I left 
Georgia, that had maintained that direction for so 
great a distance. Nothing extraordinary befell me 
until the twelfth of March, when venturing to turn 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 453 

out earlier than usual in the evening, and proceeding 
alonir the road, I found that my way led me down a 
hill, along the side of which the road had heen cut 
into the earth ten or twelve feet in deplh, having 
steep banks on each side, which were now so damp 
and slippery, that it was impossible for a man to 
ascend either the one or the other. 

^Vhil-L in this narrow place, 1 heard the sound of 
horses proceeding up the hill to meet me. Stopping 
to listen, in a moment almost two horsemen were 
close before me. trotting up the road. To escape on 
either liand was impossible, and to retreat back- 
wards would have exposed me to certain destruction. 
Oidy one means of salvation was left, and I embra- 
ced it. Near the place where I stood, was a deep 
gully cut in one side of the road, by the water which 
hail run down here in time of rains. Into this gully 
I threw myself, and lying down close to the ground, 
the horsemen rode almost over me, and passed on. 
When they were gone I arose, and descending the 
hill, found a river before me. 

In crossing this stream, I was compelled to swim 
at least two hundred yards ; and found the cold so 
oppressive, after coming out of the water, that I was 
forced to stop at tlie first thick woods that I could 
fmd and make a fire to dry myself. 1 did not move 
again until the next night ; and on the fourth night 
after this, came to a great river, which I suppose 
was the Roanoke. I was obliged to swim this 
stream, and was carried a great wa}^ down by the 
rapidity of the current. It must have been more 



454 NARRATIVE OP THE 

than an hour from the time that I entered the water, 
until I reached the opposite shore, and as the rivers 
were yet very cold, I suffered greatly at this place. 

Judging by the aspect of the country, I believed 
myself to be at this time in Virginia ; and was now 
reduced to the utmost extremity, for want of provi- 
sions. The corn that I had parched at the barn, and 
brought with me, was nearly exhausted, and no 
more was to be obtained in the fields, at this season 
of the year. For three or four days I allov^ed my- 
self only my two hands full of parched corn per day ; 
and after this I travelled three days without tasiing 
food of any kind ; but being nearly exhausted with 
hunger, I one night entered an old stack-yard, ho- 
ping that I might fall in with pigs, or poultry of 
some kind. I found, instead of these, a stack of oats, 
which had not been threshed. From this stack I 
took as much oats in the sheaf, as I could carry, and 
going on a few miles, slopped in a pine forest, made 
a large fire, and parched at least half a gallon of oats, 
after rubbing the grain from the straw. After the 
grain was parched, I again rubbed it in my hands, 
to separate it from the husks, and spent the night in 
feasting on parched oats. 

The weather was now becoming quite warm, 
though the water was cold in the rivers ; and I per- 
ceived the farmers had everywhere ploughed their 
fields, preparatory to planting corn. Every night I 
saw people burning brush in the new grounds that 
they were clearing of the wood and brush ; and 
when the day came, in the morning after I obtained 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 455 

(be oats, I perceived people planting corn in a 
field about balf a mile from my fire. According 
to my computation of time, it was on tbe nigbt of 
the last day of March that I obtained the oats ; and 
the appearance of the country satisfied me, that I 
had not lost many days in my reckoning. 

1 lay in this pine-wood two days, for the purpose 
of recruiting my strength, after my long fast ; and 
when 1 again resumed my journey, determined to 
seek some large road leading towards the nortli, and 
follow it in future ; the one that I had been pursuing 
of late, not appearing to be a i)rincipal high-way of 
(he country. For this purpose, striking off across 
tbe fields, in an easterly direction, I travelled a few 
hours, and was fortunate enough to come to a great 
road, which was manifestly much travelled, leading 
towards the northeast. 

i\Iy bag was now replenished with more than a 
gallon of parched oats, and I had yet one pair of 
moccasins made of raw hide ; but my shirt was to- 
tally gone, and my last pair of trousers was now in 
actual service. A tolerable waistcoat still remained 
to me, and my great coat, though full of honourable 
scars, was yet capable of much service. 

Having resolved to pursue the road I was now in, 
it was necessary again to resort to the utmost degree 
of caution, to prevent surprise. Travelling only af- 
ter it was dark, and taking care to stop before the ap- 
pearance of day, my progress was not rapid, but my 
safety was preserved. 

The acquisition of food had now become difficult, 



456 NARRATIVE OF THE 

and when my oats began to fail, I resorted to the 
dangerous expedient of attacking the corn-crib of 
a planter that was near the road. The house was 
built of round logs, and was covered with boards. 
One of these boards 1 succeeded in removing, on 
the side of the crib opposite from the dwelling, and 
by thrusting my arm downwards, was able to reach 
the corn — of which I took as much as filled my 
bag, the pockets of my great coat, and a large hand- 
kerchief, that I had preserved through all the vicissi- 
tudes of my journey. This opportune supply of 
corn furnished me with food more than a week, 
and before it was consumed, I reached the Appomat- 
tox river, which I crossed in a canoe, that 1 found 
tied at the shore, a few miles above the town of Peters- 
burg. Having approached Petersburg in the night, 
1 was afraid to attenipt to pass through it, lest the 
patrol should fall in with me; and turning to the 
left through the country, reached the river, and cross- 
ed in safety. 

The great road leading to Richmond is so distin- 
guishingly marked above tlie other ways in this part 
of Virginia, that there was no difficulty in following 
it, and on the third night after passing Petersburg, 1 
obtained a sight of the capitol of Virginia. It was 
only a little after midnight, when the city presented 
itself to my sight ; but here, as well as at Petersburg, 
I was afraid to attempt to go through the town, un- 
der cover of the darkness, because of the patrol. 
Turning, therefore, back into a forest, about two 
miles from the small town on the south-side of the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 457 

river, I lay there until after twelve o'clock in the day, 
when loosening the package from my back, and 
taking it in my hand in the form of a bundle, I ad- 
vanced into the village, as if I had only come from 
some plantation in the neighbourhood. 

This was on Sunday, I believ^e, though accord- 
ing to my computation, it was Monday ; but it must 
have been Sunday, for the village was quiet, and in 
passing it, 1 only saw two or three persons, whom 
I passed as if I had not seen them. No one spoke 
to me, and I gained the bridge in safety, and cross- 
ed it without attracting the least attention. 

Entering the city of Richmond, I kept along the 
principal street, walking at a slow pace, and turning 
my head from side to side, as if much attracted by 
the objects around me. Few persons were in the 
street, and I was careful to appear more attentive to 
the houses than to the people. At the upper end of 
the city I saw a great crowd of ladies and gentel- 
men, who were, I believe, returning from church. 
Whilst these people were passing me, 1 stood in the 
street, on the outside of the foot pavement, with my 
face turned to the opposite side of the street. They 
all went by without taking any notice of me : and 
when they were gone, I again resumed my leisure 
walk along the pavement, and reached the utmost 
limit of the town without being accosted by any one. 
As soon as I was clear of the city I quickened my 
pace, assumed the air of a man in great haste, some- 
times actually ran, and in less than an hour was 
safely lodged in the thickest part of the woods that 
39 



458 NARRATIVE OF THE 

lay on the north of Richmond, and full four miles 
from the river. This was the boldest exploit that I 
had performed since leaving my mistress, except the 
visit I paid to the gentleman in Georgia. 

My corn was now failing, but as I had once en- 
tered a crib secretly, I felt but httle apprehension on 
account of future supplies. After this time I never 
wanted corn, and did not again suffer by hunger, 
until I reached the place of my nativity. 

After leaving Richmond, 1 again kept along the 
great road by which 1 had travelled on my way south, 
taking great care not to expose my person unneces- 
sarily. For several nights I saw no white people on 
the way, but was often met by black ones, w horn 1 
avoided by turning out of the road ; but one moon- 
light night, five or six days after I left Richmond, a 
man stepped out of the woods almost at my side, 
and acco.titing me in a familiar manner, asked me 
which way 1 was travelling, how long 1 had been on 
the road, and made many inquiries concerning the 
course of my late journey. This man was a mulatto, 
and carried a heavy cane, or rather club, in his hand. 
I did not like his appearance, and the idea of a fami- 
har conversation with any one seemed to terrify me. 
I determined to watch my companion closely, and 
he appeared equally intent on observing me; but at 
the same time that he talked with me, he was con- 
stantly drawing closer to, and following behind me. 
This conduct increased my suspicion, and I began 
to wnsh to get rid of him, but could not at the mo- 
ment imagine how I should effect my purpose. To 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 459 

avoid hini, I crossed the road several times ; but still 
he folloued me closely. The inoon, which shone 
briglitly upon our backs, cast his shadow far before me 
and enabled me to perceive his motions with the ut- 
rnost accuracy, without turning my head towards 
i^'m. He carried his club under his left arm, and 
at length raised his riglu hand gently, took the stick 
by the end, and drawing it slowly over his head, 
was m the very act of striking a blow at me, when 
sprmgmg backward, and raising my own staff at the 
same moment, I brought him to the ground by 
a stroke on his forehead ; and when I had him 
down, beat him over the back and sides with my 
weapon, until he roared for mercy, and begged me 
not to kill him. I left him in no condition to pursue 
me, and hastened on my way, resolved to get as far 
from him before day as my legs would carry me. 

This man was undoubtedly one of those wretches 
who are employed by white men to kidnap and be- 
tray such unforf uiiate people of colour as may chance 
to fall into their hands ; but for once the deceiver 
was deceived, and he who intended to make prey of 
me, had well nigh fallen a sacrifice himself. 

The same night I crossed the Pammunky river, 
near the village of Hanover by swimming, and se- 
creted myself before day in a dense cedar thicket. 
The next night, after 1 had travelled several miles, 
in ascending a hill, I saw the head of a man rise on 
the opposite side, without having heard any noise, 
instantly ran into the woods, and concealed my- 
self behind a large tree. The traveller was on horse- 



460 NARRATIVE OF THE 

back, and the road being sandy, and his horse mo- 
ving only at a walk, I had not heard his approach 
until I saw him. He also saw me ; for when he 
came opposite the place where I stood, he stopped 
his horse in the road, and desired me to tell him 
how far it was to some place, the name of which 
I have forgotten. As I made no answer, he again 
repeated the inquiry ; and tlien said, 1 need not be 
afraid to speak, as he did not wish to hurt me ; but 
no answer being given him, he at last said I might 
as well speak, and rode on. 

Before day I reached the Matapony river, and 
crossed it by wading ; but knowing that I was not 
far from Maryland, 1 fell into a great indiscretion, 
and forgot the wariness and caution that had ena- 
bled me to overcome obstacles apparently insur- 
mountable. Anxious to get forward, I neglected to 
conceal myself before day ; but travelled until day- 
break before 1 sought a place of concealment, and 
unfortunately, when I looked for a hiding place, 
none was at hand. This compelled me to keep on 
the road, until gray twilight, for the purpose of reach- 
ing a wood that was in view before me ; but to gain 
this wood I was obliged to pass a house, that stood 
at (he road side, and when only about fifty yards 
beyond the house, a white man opened the door, and 
seeing me in the road, called to me to stop. As this 
order was not obeyed, he set his dog upon me. The 
dog was quickly vanquished by my stick, and setting 
off to nm at full speed, 1 at the same moment heard 
the report of a gun, and received its contents in my 



#^ 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 461 

legs, chiefly about, and in my hams. I fell on the 
road, and was soon surrounded by several persons, who 
it appeared were a party of patrollers, who had gather- 
ed together in this house. They ordered me to cross 
my hands, which order not being immediately obey- 
ed, they beat me with sticks and stones until I was 
almost senseless, and entirely unable to make resist- 
ance. Tliey then bound me with cords, and drag- 
ged me by the feet back to the house, and threw me 
into the kitchen, like a dead dog. One of my eyes 
was almost beaten out, and tlic blood was running 
from my mouth, nose and cars ; but in this condition 
they refused to wash the blood from my face, or even 
to give me a drink of water. 

In a short time, a justice of the peace arrived, and 
when he looked at me, ordered me to be unbound, 
and to fiave water to wash myself, and also some 
bread to eat. This man's heart appeared not to be 
altogether void of sensibility, for he reprimanded, in 
harsh terms, those who had beaten me ; told them 
that their conduct was brutal, and that it would have 
been more humane to kill me outright, than to bruise 
and mangle me in the manner they had done. 

He then interrogated me as to my name, place of 
abode, and place of destination, and afterwards de- 
manded the name of my master. To all these in- 
quiries I made no reply, except that I was going to 
Maryland, where I lived. The justice told me it 
was his duty under the law, to send me to jail ; and 
I was immediately put into a cart, and carried to a 
39* 



462 NARRATIVE OF THE 

small village called Bowling Green, which I reached 
before ten o'clock. 

There I was locked up in the jail, and ^ doctor 
came to examine my legs, and extract the shot from 
my wounds. In the course of the operation he took 
out thirty-four duck shot, and after dressing my legs 
left me to my own reflections. No fever followed in 
the train of my disasters,- which I attributed to the re- 
duced state of my blood, by long fasting, and the fa- 
tigues I had undergone. 

In the afternoon, the jailer came to see me, and 
brought my daily allowance of provisions, and a jug 
of water. The provisions consisted of more than a 
pound of corn-bread, and some boiled bacon. As 
my appetite was good, I immediately devoured more 
than two-thirds of this food, but reserved the rest for 
supper. 

For several days I was not able to stand, and in 
this period found great ditficulty in performing the 
ordinary offices of life for myself, no one coming to 
give me any aid ; but I did not suffer for want of 
food, the daily allowance of the jailer being quite 
sufficient to appease the cravings of hunger. After I 
grew better, and was able to walk in the jail, the 
jailer frequently called to see me, and endeavour- 
ed to prevail on me to tell where I had come from ; 
but in this undertaking, he was no more successful 
tlian the justice had been in the same business. 

I remained in the jail more than a month, and in 
this time became quite fat and strong, but saw no 
way by which I could escape. The jail was of 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 463 

brick, the floors were of solid oak boards, and the 
door, of the same material, was secured by iron 
bolts, let into its posts, and connected together by 
a strong band of iron, reachini:^ from the one to the 
other. 

Every thing appeared sound and strong, and to 
add to my security, my feet were chained together, 
from the time my wounds were liealed. This chain 
I acquired the knowledge of removing from my feet, 
by working out of its socket a small iron pin that 
secured the bolt that held the chain round one of my 
legs. 

Tiie jailer came to sec me willi great regularity, 
every morning and evening, but remained only a few 
minutes, when he came, leaving me entirely alone 
at all other times. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

When I had been in prison thirty-nine days, and 
had (juite recovered from the wounds that 1 had re- 
ceived, the jailer was late in coming to me with my 
breakfast, and going to the door I began to beat 
against it with my fist, for the purpose of making a 
noise. After beating some time against the door I 
happened, by mere accident, to strike my fist against 
one of the posts, which, to my surprise, I discovered by 
its sound, to be a mere hollow shell, encrusted with a 
thin coat of sound timber, and as I struck it, the rotten 



464 NARRATIVE OF THE 

wood crumbled to pieces within. On a more careful 
examination of this post, T became satisfied that I 
could easily split it to pieces, by the aid of the iron 
bolt that confined my feet. The jailer came with my 
breakfast, and reprimanded me for making a noise. 
This day appeared as long to me, as a week had done 
heretofore ; but night came at length, and as soon as 
the room in which I was confined, had become quite 
dark, I disentangled myself fiom the irons with which 
I was bound, and with the aid of the long bolt, easily 
wrenched from its place, the large staple that held 
one end of the bar, that lay across the door. The 
hasps that held the lock in its place, were drawn 
away almost without force, and the door swung open 
of its own weight. 

I now walked out into the jail-yard, and found 
that all was quiet, and that only a few lights were 
burning in the village windows. At first 1 walked 
slowly along the road, but soon quickened my pace, 
and ran along the high-way, until I was more than 
a mile from the jail, then taking to the woods, I tra- 
velled all night, in a northern direction. At the ap- 
proach of day I concealed myself in a cedar thicket, 
where I lay until the next evening, without any 
thing to eat. 

On the second night after my escape, I crossed the 
Potomac, at Hoe's ferry, in a small boat that I 
found tied at the side of the ferry flat ; and on the 
night follovv'ing crossed the Patuxent, in a canoe, 
which I found chained at the shore. 

About one o'clock in the morning, I came to the 



I 



ADVEXTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 465 

door of my wife's cabin, and stood there, I believe, 
more than five minutes, before I could summon 
sufficient fortitude to knock. I at length rapped 
lightly on the door, and was immediatly asked, in 
the well-known voice of my wife,'' Who is there?"— I 
replied " Charles. " She then came tothe door, and 
opening it slowly, said, ''Who is this that speaks so 
much like my husband?" I then rushed into the 
cabin and made myself known to her, but it was 
some time before I could convince her, that I was 
really her husband, returned from Georgia. The chil- 
dren were then called up, but they had forgotten me. 
When I attempted to take tliem in my arms, they 
lied from me, and took refuge under the bed of their 
mother. My eldest boy, who was four years old 
when I was cairit d away, still retained some recol- 
lections of once having had a father, but could not 
believe that I was that father. My wife, who at 
first was overcome by astonishment at seeing me 
again in her cabin, and was incapable of giving 
credit to tlie fidelity of her own vision, after I had 
beoii m the house a few minutes, seemed to awake 
from a dream ; and gathering all three of her chil- 
dren in her arms, thrust them into my lap, as I sat 
in the corner, clapped her hands, laughed, and cried 
by turns ; and in her ecstasy forgot to give me any 
supper, until I at length told her that I was hun- 
gry. Before I entered the house I felt as if I could 
eat any thing in the shape of food ; but now that I 
attempted to eat, my appetite had fled, and I sat up 
all night with my wife and children. 



466 NARRATIVE OF THE 

When on my journey I thought of nothing but 
getting home, and never reflected, that when at 
home, I might still be in danger : but now that my 
toils were ended, I began to consider with myself 
how I could appear in safety in Calvert county, 
where everybody must know that I was a runaway 
slave. With my heart thrilling with joy, when i 
looked upon my wife and children, who had not 
hoped ever to behold me again ; yet fearful of the 
coming of daylight, which must expose me to be 
arrested as a fugitive slave, I passed the night be- 
tween the happiness of the present and the dread 
of the future. In all the toils, dangers, and suller- 
ings of my long journey, my courage had never 
forsaken me. The hope of again seeing my wife 
and little ones, had borne me triumphantly through 
perils, that even now I reflect upon as upon some 
extravagant dream ; but when I found myself at 
rest under the roof of my wife, the object of my la- 
bours attained, and no motive to arouse my ener- 
gies, or give them the least impulse, that firmness 
of resolution which had so long sustained me, sud- 
denly vanished from my bosom ; and I passed the 
night, with my children around me, oppressed by a 
melancholy foreboding of my future destiny. The 
idea that I was utterly unable to afford protection and 
safeguard to my own family, and was myself even 
more helpless than they, tormented my bosom with 
alternate throbs of affection and fear, until the dawn 
broke in the east, and summoned me to decide upon 
my future conduct. 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 467 

When morning came, I went to tlie great house, 
and showed myself to my wife's master and mistress 
who treated me with great kindness, and gave me a 
good breakfast. Mr. Symmes at first advised me to 
conceal myself, but soon afterwards told me to go to 
work in the neigbourhood for wages. I continued 
to hire myself about among the farmers, until after 
the war broke out ; and until Commodore Barney 
came into the Patuxent with his flotilla, when I en- 
listed on board one of his barges, and was em- 
ployed sometimes in tlie capacity of a seaman, and 
sometimes as cook of the barge. 

I had been on board, only a few days, when the 
British fleet entered the Patuxent, and forced our flo- 
tilla high u() the river. I was present when the flo- 
tilla was blown up, and assisted in the performance 
of that operation upon the barge that I was in. The 
guns and the principal part of the armament of the 
flotilla, were sunk in the river and lost. 

I marched with the troops of Barney, from Bene- 
dict to Bladensburg, and travelled nearly the whole 
of the distance, through heavy forests of timber, or 
numerous and dense cedar thickets. It is my opinion, 
that if General Winder had marched the half of the 
troops that he had at Bladensburg, down to the lower 
part of Prince George county, and attacked the Brit- 
ish in these woods and cedar thickets, not a man 
of them would ever have reached Bladensburg. 

I feel confident that in the country through which 
I marched, one hundred Americans would have des- 



468 NARRATIVE OF THE 

troyed a thousand of the enemy, by feUing trees 
across the road, and attacking them in ambush. 

When we reached Bladensburg, and the flotilla 
men were drawn up in line, to work at their cannon, 
armed with their cutlasses, I volunteered to assist in 
working the cannon, that occupied the first place, on 
the left of the Commodore. We had a full and 
perfect view of the British army, as it advanced 
along the road, leading to the bridge over the East 
Branch ; and I could not but admire the handsome 
manner in which the British officers led on their fa- 
tigued and w^orn-out soldiers. I thought then, and 
think yet, that General Ross w as one of the finest 
looking men that 1 ever saw on horseback. 

I stood at my gun, until the Commodore was shot 
down, wlien he ordered us to retreat, as I was told 
by the officer w^ho commanded our gun. If the mi- 
litia regiments, that lay upon our right and left, could 
have been brought to charge the British, in close 
fight, as they crossed the bridge, we should have 
killed or taken the whole of them in a short time; 
but the miUtia ran hke sheep chased by dogs. 

My readers will not, perhaps, condemn me if I 
here make a short digression from my main narra- 
tive, to give some account of the part that I took in 
the war, on the shores of the Chesapeake, and the 
Patuxent. I did not enlist with Commodore Barney 
until the month of December, 1813; but as I resided 
in Calvert county, in the summer of 1813, I had an 
opportunity of witnessing many of the evils that fol- 



ADVENTURES OP CHARLES BALL. 469 

lowed in the train of war, before I assumed the pro- 
fession of arms myself. 

In the spring of the year 1813. the British fleet 
came into the bay. and from this time, the origin of 
the troubles and distresses of the people of the Wes- 
tern Shore, may be dated. I liad been employed at 
a fisliery, near the m lulli of the Patuxcnt, from early 
in Mirch, until the latter part of May, when a 
British vessel of war came off the mouth of the river, 
and sent her boats up to drive us away from our fish- 
inj^ giound. There was but little property at the 
ii-hery that could b^ destroyed; but the enemy cut 
the seines to pieces, and l)urucd the sheils belonging 
to the [)lace. They tlien marched up two miles into 
the country,^ burned the house of a planter, and 
brought away with them several cattle, that were 
found in his fudds. They also carried olf more than 
twenty slaves, which were never again restored to 
their owner; although, on the following day, he went 
on board the ship, with a flag of truce, and offered 
a large ransom for these slaves. 

These were the first black people whom 1 had 
known to desert to the British, although the practice 
was afterwards so common. In the course of this 
summar, and the summer of 1814, several thousand 
black people deserted from their masters and mis- 
tresses, and escaped to the British fleet. None of 
these people were ever regained by their owners, as 
the British naval officers treated them as free peo- 
ple, and placed them on the footing of military de- 
serters. 

40 



470 NARRATIVE OF THE 

In the fall of this year, a lady by the name of 
Wilson, who owned moie than a hundred slaves, lost 
them all in one night, except one man, who had a 
wife and seveial children on an adjoining estate, and 
as he could not take his family with him, on account 
of the rigid guard that was kept over them, he re- 
fused to go himself. 

The slaves of Mrs. Wilson effected their escape in 
the following manner. Two or three of the men 
having agreed amongst themselves, that they would 
run away and go to the fleet, they stole a canoe one 
night, and went off to the ship, that lay nearest the 
shore. When on board, they informed the officer 
of the ship that their mistress owned more than a 
hundred other slaves, whom they had left behind 
them. They were then advised to return home, 
and remain there until the next night, and then bring 
with them to the beach, all the slaves on the plan- 
tation — the officer promising that he would send a 
detachment of boats to the shore, to bring them off. 
This advice was followed, and tlie fugitives returned 
before day, to their cabins, on the plantation of their 
mistress. 

On the next night, having communicated their 
plans to some of their fellow -slaves, they rose about 
midnight, an.l partly by persuasion, partly by com- 
pulsion, carried off all the slaves on the plantation, 
with the exception of the man already named. 

When they reached the beach, they kindled a 
fire, as had been concerted with the British officers, 
and the boats of the fleet came off, and removed this 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 471 



whole party oil board. In tlie morning, when the 
overseer of Mrs. Wilson arose, and went to call his 
hands to the field, he found only empty cabins in the 
quarter, with a single man remaining, to tell what 
had become of his fellows. 

This was the greatest disaster that had befallen 
any individual in our neighbourhood, in the course 
of tlie war; and as the sufTerer was a lady, much 
sympathy was excited in her favour. A large num- 
ber of gentlemen met together, for the purpose of 
enJeavourinsr to devise some means of recovering^ 
the fugitive slaves. Their consultations ended in 
sending a deputation of gentlemen, on board the fleet? 
with a flag of truce, to solicit the restoration of the 
deserters, either as a matter of favour, or for such 
ransom, as might be agreed upon. Strong hopes 
were entertained, that the runaways might be in- 
duced voluntarily to return to the service of their 
mistress, as she had never treated them with great 
severity. 

To accomplish, if possible, this latter end, I was 
spoken to, to go along with the flag of truce, in the 
assumed character of the servant of one of the gen- 
tlemen who bore it; but in the real character of the 
advocate of the mistress, for the purpose of inducing 
her slaves to return to her service. 

We went on board the ship in the afternoon, and 
I observed, that the gentlemen who went with me, 
were received by the British officers with very little 
ceremony. The captain did not show himself on 
deck, nor were the gentlemen invited into his cabin. 



472 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



They were shown into a large square room under 
the first deck of the ship, which was a 74, and here 
a great number of officers came to talk to them, and 
ask them questions concerning the war, and the state 
of the country. 

The whole of the runaways were on board this 
ship, lounging about on the main deck, or leaning 
against the sides of the ship's bulwarks. 1 went 
amongst them, and talked to ihem a long time, on 
the subject of returning home ; but found that their 
heads were full of notions of liberty and happiness in 
ome of the AVest India islands. 

In the afternoon, all ihe gentlemen, except one, 
returned lionie in the boat that they had come off 
in. The gentleman, who remained on board, was 
a young man of pleasing manners and lively conver- 
sation, who appeared, even before the other gentle- 
men wlio had come with the flag had left the ship, 
to have become quite a favourite with the younger 
British oflficers. Permission was obtained of theBrit- 
ish captain, for this young gentleman to remain on 
board a few days, for tlie purpose, as he alleged, 
of seeing the curiosities of the ship. He had permis- 
sion to retain me with him as his servant; and I 
was instructed to exert myself to the utmost, to pre- 
vail on the runaway slaves to return to their mistress. 
The ship lay at anchor ofi'the shore of Calvert coun- 
ty, until the second night after I came on board, 
when, from some cause which I was not able to un- 
derstand, this ship and all the rest of the fleet, got 
under weigh, and stood down the Bay to the neigh^ 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 473 

bourhoocl of Tangier Islands; where she again cast 
anchor, soon after sunrise the next morning, in ten 
fathoms water. I was now at least seventy or eighty 
miles from home, in a ship of the pubhc enemies of 
tlic country, and liable to be carried oH'to sea, and to 
be conveyed to the most distant part of the world. 
To increase my alarm, about noon of this day^ a sloop 
of war cast anchor under (lie stern of our ship; and 
all the black |)eople tliat were with us, were immedi- 
ately removed on board the sloop. I was invited, 
and even urged to go with the others, who, I was 
told, were bound to the island of Trinidad, in the 
^Vest indies, w^hcre tliey would have lands given to 
them, and where they were to be free. I returned 
many thaidcs for their kind offers; but respectfully 
declined them; telling those who made tliem, that 
I was already a freeman, and though I owned no 
land myself, yet I could have plenty of land of other 
people to cultivate. 

In the evening, the sloop weighed ancfior, and 
stood down the Bay, with more than two hundred 
and fifty black people on board. I watched her as 
she sailed away from us, until the darkness of the 
night shut her out from my sight. In the morning 
she was not to be seen. What became of the miser- 
able mass of black fugitives, that this vessel took to 
sea, I never learned. 

My mission was now at an end, and I spoke this 

day to the young gentleman, under whose care I was, 

to endeavour to procure some means of conveying 

both him and me back again to Calvert. My prot jc- 

40* 



474 NARRATIVE OF THE 

tor seemed no less embarrassed than I was, and in- 
formed me, that the officers of the ship said they 
would not land us on the Western Shore, within less 
than two weeks. I was obliged to content myself in 
the best way I could, in my confinement on ship- 
board; and I amused myself by talking to the sailors, 
and giving them an account of the way in which I 
had passed my life on the tobacco and cotton planta- 
tions; in return for which, the seamen gave many 
long stories of their adventures at sea, and of the 
battles they had been engaged in. 

I lived well whilst on board this ship, as tfiey al- 
lowed me to share in a mess. In con;pensation for 
their civility, I gave them many useful instructions 
in the art of taking fish in the Bay. 

This great ship lay at anchor like a vast castle, 
moored by the cable; but there were many small 
vessels, used as tenders to the fleet, that were con- 
tinually sailing up and down the Bay, by vnght, as 
well as by day, in pursuit of any thing that they 
might fall in with, that they could take from the 
Americans. Whilst I was on board, I saw more 
than thirty vessels, cliiefly Bay craft, brought to our 
anchorage, and there burned, after being stripped of 
every thing valuable that could be taken from them. 
The people who manned and navigated these vessels, 
were made prisoners, and di3j)ersed amongst the 
several ships of the fleet, until they could be removed 
to Hah fax, or the West Indies. One day a small 
schooner was seen standing out of the mouth of iSan- 
ticoke river, and beating up the Bay. Chase was 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 475 

im mediately given by several of the light vessels be- 
longing to the fleet, and continued until nightfall, 
when I could no longer see the sails; but the next 
day, the British vessels returned, bringing in their 
company the little schooner, which was manned by 
her owner, wlio acted as captain, and two boys. On 
board the schooner, besides her crew, were several 
passengers, seven in num!)er, I believe. The people 
were taken out of this liiile vessel, which was laden 
Willi Indian corn, and after her caruo had been re- 
moved, she was i)urned in view of her owner, who 
seeme.l miicli aflected at the sight, and said that it 
was all the property he owned in the world, and 
that his wife and children were now beggars. The 
passengers and crew of this little vessel, were all re- 
tained as prisoners of war, on board the 74, in which 
I was; and were shut up every night in a room on 
the lower gun deck. In this room there were sev- 
eral port-holes, which were sullered to remain open 
for the benefit of the air. 

After these people had been on board three or four 
days, a boat's crew, that had been out somewhere in 
the evening, when they returned to the ship, tied 
the boat with a long rope to one of the halyards of 
the ship, and left the boat floating near the ship's 
bows. Some time after night the tide turned, moved 
the boat along the side of the ship, and floated it 
directly under the port-holes of the prisoners' room. 
The night was dark and warm, and I had taken a 
station on the upper deck, and was leaning over the 
bulwarks, when my attention was drawn towards 



476 NARRATIVE OP THE 

the water, by hearing something drop into the boat 
that lay along side. Dark as it was, I could see the 
forms of men passing out of the port-holes into the 
boat. In less than two minutes, nine persons had 
entered the boat; and 1 then heard a low whisper, 
which I could not understand; but immediately after- 
wards, saw the boat drifting with the tide; which 
convinced me that she was loose, and that ibe pri- 
soners were in her. I said nothing, and in a short 
time the boat was out of sight. She had, however, 
not been long gone, when the watch on deck passed 
near me. and looking over tlie side of the ship, called 
to the officer on deck, that the yawl was gone. The 
officer on deck instantly called to some one below to 
examine the room of the prisoners; and received for 
answer, that the prisoners had fled. A gun was im- 
mediately fired under me, on one of the lower decks ; 
the ship's bells were tolled; numerous blue lights 
were made read}^, and cast high into the air, which 
performing a curve in the atmosphere, illuminated 
the face of the water all the way from the ship to the 
place where tliey fell. The other ships in the fleet 
all answered by firing guns, casting out lights, and 
ringing their large bells. Three boats put off from 
our ship, in search of the fugitives, with as little de- 
lay as possible; and, after being absent more than 
an hour, returned without finding those who had 
escaped. 

This aflair presented one of the finest night scenes 
that can well be imagined. The deep thunder of 
the heavy artillery, as it broke upon the stillness of 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 477 

the nightj and re-echoed from the distant shores; 
the solemn and mournful tones of the numerous 
bells, as they answered each other from ship to ship, 
as the sounds rose in the air, and died away in the 
distance, on the wide expanse of waters; with the 
shouts of the seamen, and the pale and ghastly ap- 
pearance of the blue lights, as they rose into the at- 
mosphere, and then descended and died away in 
the water — all combined (ogether, to affect both the 
eye and the car, in a manner (lie most in^pressive. 

One of the prisoners remained in the ship: not 
having courage to undertake, with his companions, 
the daring and dangerous exploit of escaping from 
the ship in her own boat. When the morning came, 
this man explained, to the officers of the ship, the 
whole pl[in tliat had been devised, and pursued by 
his companions. When they found that the boat 
had (li»ated under the port-holes of their room, some 
one of the number proposed to the rest, to attempt 
to escape, as the oars of the boat had been left in her; 
but a dilficulty suggested itself, at the outset, which 
was this: the oars could not be worked on the boat 
without making a great noise, sufficient to alarm the 
wat.cli on deck. To avoid this, one of the prisoners 
said he would imdertake to puUoffliis coat, and muf- 
fle one of the oars with it, and scull the boat until they 
should be clear of the fleet; when they could lay both 
oars on the boat, and row to shore. We lay much 
nearer to the Western Shore, than we were to the 
Eastern but this man said, the design of the prison- 
ers was to pull to the Eastern Shore. All the boats 



478 NARRATIVE OF THE 

that went from our ship pulled for the Western 
Shore, and by this means the prisoners escaped, with- 
out being seen. 

The captain of the ship was much enraged at the 
escape of these prisoners, and swore he would be 
avenged of the Yankees in a short time. In this 
he was as good as his word ; for the very next day . 
he fitted out an expedition, consisting of eleven long 
boats, and more than two hundred men, who landed 
on the Western Shore, and burned three houses, 
with all their furniture, and killed a great number 
of cattle. 

The officer who lieacic J this expedition, brought 
back with him a large silk iiandkerchief full of sil- 
ver spoons, and other articles of silver plate. I saw 
him exhibit these tropliies of his valour amongst 
his brother officers, on the deck of the ship. 

After I had been on board nearly a w eek, a furi- 
ous northeast storm came on and blew for three 
days, accompanied witli frequent gusts of rain. In 
the evening of the second day, we saw two schoon- 
ers standing down the bay, and sailing close on the 
wind, so as to pass between the fleet and the Eastern 
Shore. As it was dangerous for large ships to ap- 
proach much nearer the Eastern Shore than where 
we lay, several of the tenders of the fleet, amounting 
in all to more than a dozen, were ordered, by signal, 
to intercept the strange sails, and bring them to the 
fleet. 

The tenders got under weigh and stood before the 
wind, for the purpose of encountering the schooners, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 479 

as they came down the Bay. These schooners 
proved to be two heavy armed American privateers, 
and when the tenders approached them a furious bat- 
tle commenced, with cannon, which lasted more than 
an hour, and until the privateers had passed quite 
below the anchorage of the fleet. 

Several of the tenders were much damaged in their 
hulls and rigging; and it was said that they lost 
more than twenty men. I could not perceive that 
the privateers sustained the least injury, as they ne- 
ver sliortened sail, nor altered their course, until they 
had passed to the windward of all the ships of the 
fleet, when they changed tlieir bearing, and stood 
for the Capes of Virginia. There were nearly forty 
vessels in the fleet, great and small; and yet these 
two privateers braved the whole of them in open day- 
liglit, and went to sea in spite of them. 

On the ninth day after we came on board, the fleet 
again moved up the Bay, and when we were oflf the 
mouth of the Potomac, the captain sent the young 
gentleman, in whose service I was, together with 
myself, on shore in his own gig. 

The lieutenant who had command of the gig, after 
he set us on shore, went up to the house of a farmer, 
whose estate fey opon to the Bay, and after pil- 
fering the premises of every thing that he could 
carry away, set fire to the house, and returned to his 
boat. In the course of the summer and fall of the 
year 1813, 1 witnessed many other atrocities, of equal 
enormity. 

I continued with the army after the sack of Wash- 



480 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ington, and assisted in the defence of Baltimore ; but 
in tiie fall of 1814, 1 procured my discharge from the 
army, and went to work in Baltimore, as a free 
black man. From this time, until the year 1820, 1 
worked in various places in Maryland, as a free man ; 
sometimes in Baltimore, sometimes in Annapolis, 
and frequently in Washington. My wife died in 
the year 1816, and from that time 1 was not often 
in Calvert county. I was fortunate in the enjoyment 
of good health; and by constant economy I found 
myself in possession, in the year 1820, of three hun- 
dred and fifty dollars in money, the proceeds of my 
labour. 

I now removed to the neis^hbourhood of Baltimore, 
and purchased a lot of twelve acres of ground, upon 
which I erected a small house, and became a fai mer 
on my own account, and upon my own propei ty. 
I purchased a 3'oke of oxen and two cows, and be- 
came a regular attendant of the Baltimore market, 
where 1 sold the products of m}^ own farm and dairy. 
In the course of two or three years, I had brought my 
little farm into very good culture, and had increa- 
sed my stock of cattle to four cows and several young- 
er animals. I now lived very happily, and had an 
abundance of all the liecessaries of life around me. 
I had married a second wife, who bore me four chil- 
dren, and I now looked forward to an old age of com- 
fort, if not of ease; but I was soon to be awakened 
from this dream 



I 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 481 



CHAPTER XXV. 

In the month of June, 1830, as I was pl< ughing 
in my lot, three gentlemen rode up to my fence, and 
ahgliting from their horses, all came over the fence 
and approached me, when one of them told me he 
was the sheriff, and had a writ in his pocket, which 
commanded him to take me to Baltimore. I was not 
conscious of having done any thing injurious to any 
one ; but yet felt a distrust of these men, who were 
all strangers to me. I told them I would go with 
them, if they would permit me to turn my oxen loose 
from the plough; but it was my intention to seek an 
opportunity of escaping to the house of a gentleman, 
who lived about a mile from me. This purpose I 
was not able to effect, for whilst I was taking the 
yoke from the oxen, one of the gentlemen came be- 
hind me, and knocked me down, with a heavy whip 
that he carried in his hand. 

When I rdcovered from the stunning effects of this 
blow, I found myself bound with my hands behind 
me, and strong cords closely wrapped about my arms. 
In this condition I was forced to set out immediate- 
ly, for Balitmore, without speaking to my wife, or 
even entering my door. I expected that, on arriving 
at Baltimore, I should be taken before a judge for 
the purpose of being tried, but in this I was deceived. 
They led me to the city jail, and there shut me up, 
with several other black people, both men and women. 
41 ' 



482 NARRATIVE OF THE 

who told me that they had lately been purchased by 
a trader from Georgia. 

I now saw the extent of my misfortune, but could 
not learn who the persons were, who had seized me. 
In theeveninof however, one of the gentlemen, who 
had brought me from home, came into the jail with 
the jailer, and asked me if 1 knew him. On being 
answered in the negative, he told me that he knew 
me very well; and asked me if 1 did not recollect the 
time when he and his brother had whipped me, be- 
fore my master's door, in Georgia. 

I now recognised the features of the younger of 
the two brothers of my mistress ; but this man was 
so changed m his appearance, from the time when I 
had last seen him, that if he had not' declared him- 
self, I should never have known him. When 1 left 
Georgia, he was not more than twenty-one or two 
years of age, and had black, bushy hair. His hair 
was now thin and gray, and all his features were 
changed. 

After lying in jail a little more than two wrecks, 
strongly ironed, my fellow prisoners and 1 were one 
day chained together, handcuffed in pairs, and in this 
way driven about ten miles out of Baltimore, where 
we remained all night. 

On the evening of ihe second day, w^e halted at 
Bladensburg, and were shut up in a small house, 
within full view of the very ground, where sixteen 
years before I had fought in the ranks of the army 
of the United States, in defence of the liberty and in- 
dependence of that which I then regarded as my 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 483 

country. It seemed as if it had been but yesterday 
that 1 had seen the British columns, advancing across 
the bridge now before me, directing their fire against 
me, and my companions in arms. 

The thought now struck me, that if T had deser- 
ted that day, and gone over to the enemies of the 
United States, how different would my situation at 
this moment have been. And this, thought I, is the 
reward of the part I bore in the dangers and fatigues 
of that disastrous battle. 

On the next morning, v.e marched through Wash- 
ington, and as we passed in front of the President's 
Jiouse, I saw an old gentleman walking in the 
grounds, near tlie gate. Tbis man I was told was 
the President ^'\he United States. 

Within four weeks after we left Washington, I 
was in Milledgeville in Georgia, near which the man 
who had kidnapped me, resided. He took me home 
with him, and set me to work on his plantation ; but I 
had now enjoyed liberty too long to submit quietly to 
the endurance of slavery. I had no sooner come here, 
than I began to devise ways of escaping again from 
the hands of my tyrants, and of making my way to 
the northern states. 

The month of August was now approaching, 
which is a favourable season of the year to travel, 
on account of the abundance of food that is to be 
found in the corn fields and orchards; but I remem- 
bered the dreadful sufferings that I had endured in 
my former journey from the south, and determined 



484 NARRATIVE OF THE 

if possible, to devise some scheme of getting away^ 
that would not subject me to sucli hardships. 

After several weeks of consideration, I resolved to 
run away, go to some of the seaports, and endeavour 
to get a passage on board a vessel, bound to a north- 
ern city. With this view, I assumed the appearance 
of resignation and composure, under the new aspect 
of my fortune ; and even went so far as to tell my new 
master that I lived more comfortably with him, in 
his cotton fields, than I had form rly done, on ray 
own small farm in Maryland ; though I believe my 
master did me the justice to give no credit to my as- 
sertions, on this subject. 

From the moment I discovered in Maryland, that 
I had fallen into the hands of the brother of my for- 
mer mistress, I gave up all hope of contesting his 
right to arrest me, with success, at law, as I supposed 
he had come with authority to reclaim me as the 
property of his sister; but after I had returned to 
Georgia, and had been at work some weeks on the 
plantation of my new master, I learned that he now 
claimed me as his own slave, and that he had report- 
ed he had purchased me in Baltimore. It was now 
clear to me that this man, having by some means 
learned the place of my residence, in Maryland, had 
kidnapped and now held me as his slave, without 
the colour of legal right ; but complaint on my part 
was useless, and resistance vain. 

1 was again reduced to the condition of a common 
field slave, on a cotton plantation in Georgia, and 
compelled to subsist on the very scanty and coarse 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 485 

food, allowed to the soutliern slaves. I had been 
absent from Georgia, almost twenty years, and in 
that period, great changes had doubtlessly taken 
place in the face of the country, as well as in the con- 
dition of human society. 

I had never been in Milledgeville, until I was 
brought there by the man who had kidnapped me 
in Maryland ; and I was now a slave among entire 
strangers, and had no friend to give me the consola- 
tion of kind words, such as 1 had formerly received 
from my master in Morgan county. The planta- 
tion on which I was now a slave, had formerly be- 
longed to the fatlierof my mistress; and some of my 
fellow-slaves had been well acquainted with her, in 
her youth. From these people I learned, that after 
the death of my master, and my flight from Georgia, 
my mistress had become the wife of a second hus- 
band, who had removed with her to the state of 
Louisiana, more than fifteen years ago. 

After ascertaining tliese facts, which proved be- 
yond all doubt that my present master had no right 
whatsoever to me, in either law or justice, 1 deter- 
mined, that before encountering the dangers and 
sulTerings, that must necessarily attend my second 
flight from Georgia, 1 would attempt to claim the 
protection of the laws of the country, and try to get 
myself discharged from the unjust slavery in which 
I was now held. For this purpose, I went to Mil-t 
ledgeville, one Sunday, and inquired for a lawyer, 
of a black man whom I met in the street. This 
41* 



486 NARRATIVE OF THE 

person told me that bis master was a lawyer, and 
went with me to his house. 

The lawyer, after talking to me some time, told 
me that my master was his client, and that he there- 
fore could not undertake my cause ; but referred me 
to a young gentleman, who he said would do my 
business for me. Accordingly to this young man I 
went, and after relating my whole story to him, he 
told me that he believed he could not do any thing 
for me, as I had no witnesses to prove my freedom. 

I rejoined, that it seemed hard that I must be com- 
pelled to prove myself a freeman : and that it would 
appear more consonant to reason, that my master 
should prove me to be a slave. He, however, assured 
me that this was not the law of Georgia, where 
every man of colour was presumed to be a slave, un- 
til he could prove that he was free. He then told 
me that if I expected him to talk to me, I must 
give him a fee ; whereupon I gave him all the mo- 
ney I had been able to procure, since my arrival in 
the country, which was two dollars and seventy-five 
cents. 

When I offered him this money, the lawyer tos- 
sed his head, and said such a trifle was not Avorth ac- 
cepting ; but nevertheless he took it, and then asked 
me if I could get some more money before the next 
Sunday. That if I could get another dollar, he 
would issue a writ and have me brought before the 
court; but if he succeeded in getting me set free, I 
must engage to serve him a year. To these condi- 
tions I agieed, and signed a paper which the lawyer 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 487 

wrot'^, and which was signed by two persons as wit- 
nesses. 

The brother of my pretended master, was yet Uv^- 
ing in tliis neighbourliood, and the lawyer advised 
me to have him brouglit forward, as a witness, to 
prove that I was not the slave of my present preten- 
ded owner. 

On the Wednesday following my visit to Milledge- 
ville, the sherilFcame to my master's plantation, and 
took me from the field to the house, telhng me as I 
walked beside him, that he had a writ which com- 
manded him to take me to Milledgeville. Instead, 
liowcver, of obeying the command of his writ, when 
we arrived at the house, he took a bond of my mas- 
ter that ho wpuld produce me at the court house on 
the next day, Friday, and then rode away, leaving 
me at the mercy of my kidnapper. 

Since I had been on tliis plantation, I had never 
been whipped, although all the other slaves, of whom 
there were more than fifty, were frequently Hogged 
witliout any apparent cause. I had all along attri- 
buted my exemption from the lash to the fears of my 
master. He knew I had formerly run away from 
his sister, on account of her cruelty, and his own 
savage conduct to me; and I believed that he was 
still apprehensive that a repetition of his former bar- 
barity might produce the same effect that it had done 
twenty years before. 

His evil passions were like fire covered with ashes, 
concealed, not extinguished. He now found that I 
was determined to try to regain my liberty at all 



488 NARRATIVE OF THE 

events, and the sheriff was no sooner gone, than the 
overseer was sent for, to come from the field, and I 
was tied up and whipped, with the long lashed negro 
whip, until I fainted, and was carried in a state of 
insensibility, to my lodgings in the quarter. It was 
night when I recovered my understanding, sufficient- 
ly to be aware of my true situation. I now found 
that my wounds had been oiled, and that I was 
wrapped in a piece of clean linen cloth : but for sever- 
al days I was unable to leave my bed. When Fri- 
day came, I was not taken to Milledgeville, and 
afterwards learned that my master reported to the 
court, that I had been taken ill, and was not able to 
leave the house. The judge asked no questions as 
to the cause of my illness. 

At the end of two weeks, I was taken to Milledge- 
ville, and carried before a judge, who first asked a 
few questions of my master, as to the length of time 
that he had owned me, and the place where he had 
purchased me. He stated in my presence that he 
had purchased me, with several others, at public 
auction, in the city of Baltimore, and had paid five 
hundred and ten dollars for me. I was not permit- 
ted to speak to the court, much less to contradict this 
falsehood in the manner it deserved. 

The brother of my master was then called as a 
witness, by my lawyer ; but the witness refused to be 
sworn or examined, on account of his interest in me, 
as his slave. In support of his refusal, he produced 
a bill of sale from my master to himself, for an equal, 
undivided half part of the slave Charles. This bill 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 4S9 

of sale was dated several weeks previous to the time 
of trial, and gave rise to an argument between the 
opposing lawyers, that continued until the court ad- 
journed in the evening. 

On the next morning I was again brought into 
court, and the judge now delivered his opinion, 
which was that the witness could not be compelled 
to give evidence in a cause to which he was really, 
though not nominally, a party. 

The court then proceeded to give judgment in the 
cause now before it, and declared that tbelaw was w^ell 
settled in Georgia, that every negro was presumed 
to be a slave, until he proved his freedom by the clear- 
est evidence. That w here a negro was found in the 
custody or keeping of a white man, the law declared 
that white man to be his master, without any evi- 
dence on the subject. But the case before the court, 
was exceedingly plain and free from all doubt or diffi- 
culty. Here the master has brought this slave into 
the state of Georgia, as his property, has held him as 
a slave ever since, and still holds him as a slave. 
The title of the master in this case, is the best title 
that a man can have to any property, and the order 
of the court is that the slave Charles be returned to 
the custody of his master. 

I was immediately ordered to return home, and 
from this time until I left the plantation, my life was 
a continual torment to me. The overseer often 
came up to me in the field, and gave me several 
lashes with his long whip, over my naked back, 
through mere wantonness; and I was often com- 



490 



NARRATIVE OP THE 



pelled, after I had done my day's work in the field, 
to cut wood, or perform some other labour at the 
house, until long after dark. My sufferings were 
too great to be borne long by any human creature; 
and to a man who had once tasted the sweets of hb- 
erty, they were doubly tormenting. 

There was nothing in the form of danger that 
could intimidate me, if the road on which I had to 
encounter it, led me to freedom. That season of the 
year, most favourable to my escape from bondage, 
had at length arrived. The corn in the fields was 
so far grown, as to be fit for roasting; the peaches 
were beginning to ripen, and the sweet potatoes were 
large enough to be eaten; but notwithstanding all 
this, the difficulties that surrounded me were greater 
than can easily be imagined by any one who has 
never been a slave in the lower country of Georgia. 

In the first place I was almost naked, having no 
other clothes than a ragged shirt of tow cloth, and 
a pair of old trousers of the same material, with an 
old woollen jacket that I had brought with me from 
home. In addition to this, I was closely watched eve- 
ry evening, until I had finished the labour assigned 
me,, and then I was locked up in a small cabin by 
myself for the night. 

This cabin was really a prison, and had been built 
for the purpose of confining such of the slaves of this 
estate, as were tried in the evening, and sentenced 
to be whipped in the morning. It was built of strong 
oak logs, hewn square, and dovetailed together at 
the corners. It had no window in it ; but as the log's 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 491 

did not fit very close together, there was never any 
want of air in this jail, in which I had been locked 
up every night since my trial before the court. 

On Sundays I was permitted to go to work in the 
fields, with the other people who worked on tliat day, 
if I chose so to do; but at this time I was put under 
the charge of an old African negro, who was instruct- 
ed to give immediate information, if I attempted to 
le ive the field. To escape on Sunday was impos- 
sible, and there seemed to be no hope of getting out 
of my sleeping room, the floor of which was made of 
strong pine plank. 

Fortune at length did for me that which I had 
not been able to accomplish, by the greatest efforts, 
for myself The lock that was on the door of my 
nightly prison, was a large stock lock, and had been 
clumsily fitted on the door, so that the end of the 
lock pressed against the door-case, and made it diffi- 
cult to shut the door even in dry weather. When 
the weather was damp, and the wood was swollen 
with moisture, it was not easy to close the door at all. 

Late in the month of September, the weather be- 
came cloudy, and much rain fell. -The clouds con- 
tinued to obscure the heavens for four or five days. 
One evening, when I was ordered to my house, as it 
was called, the overseer followed me without a light, 
although it was very dark. When I was in the 
house, he pushed the door after me, with all his 
strength. The violence of the effort caused the door 
to pass within the case at the top, for one or two 



492 NARRATIVE OF THE 

feet, and this held it so fast that he could not again 
pull it open. 

Supposing in the extreme darkness, that the door 
was shut, he turned the key; and the boh of the 
lock passing on the outside of the staple intended to 
receive it, completely deceived him. He then with- 
drew the key, and went away. Soon after he was 
gone, I went to the door, and feeling w^itli my hands, 
ascertained that it was not shut. An opportunity 
now presented itself for me to escape from my p son- 
house, with a prospect of being able to be so far from 
my master's residence before morning, that none 
could soon overtake me, even should the course of 
my flight be ascertained. Waiting quietly, until 
every one about the quarter had ceased to be heard, 
I applied one of my feet to the door, and giving it a 
strong push, forced it open. 

The w^orld was now all before me, but the dark- 
ness was so profound, as to obscure from my vision 
the largest objects, even a house, at the distance of a 
few yards. But dark as it was, necessity compelled 
me to leave the plantation without delay, and know- 
ing only the great road that led to Milledgeville, 
amongst the various roads of this country, I set off 
at a brisk walk on this public highway, assured 
that no one could apprehend me in so dark a night. 

It was only about seven miles to Milledgeville, 
and when I reached tiiat town several lights were 
burning in the windows of the houses; but keeping 
on directly through the village, I neither saw nor 
heard any person in it, and after gaining the open 



AOVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 493 

country, my first care was to find some secure place 
where shelter could be found for the next day ; but no 
appearance of thick woods was to be seen for several 
miles, and two or three hours must hav^ elapsed be- 
fore a forest of sufficient magnitude was found to 
answer my purposes. 

It was perhaps tlnee o'clock in the morning, when 
I took refuge in a thick and dismal swamp that lay 
on the right hand of the road, intending to remaia 
here until daylight, and then bo'c out for a secret 
place to conceal myself in, during the day. Hither- 
to, although the night was so extremely dark, it 
had not rained any, but soon after my halt in the 
swamp, the rain began to fall in floods, rather than 
in showers, which made me as wet as if 1 had swum 
a river. 

Daylight at length appeared, but brought with 
it very little mitigation of my sall(3rings; for the 
swamp, in which my hiding-place was, lay in the 
midst of a well-peopled country, and was surround- 
ed, on all sides, by cotton and corn fields, so close to 
mc, that the open spaces of the cleared land could 
be seen from my position. It was dangerous to 
move, lest some one should see me; and painful to 
remain without food, when hunger was consuming 
m\ 

My resting place, in the swamp, was within view 
of the road ; and, soon after sunrise, although it 
continued to rain fast, numerous horsemen were seen 
passing along the road by the way that had led me 
to the swamp. There was little doubt on my mind, 
42 



494 



NARRATIVE OF THE 



that these people were in search of nie, and the se- 
quel proved that my surmises were well founded. 
It rained throughout this day, and the fear of being 
apprehended by those who came in pursuit of me, 
confined me^to the swamp, until after dark the fol- 
lowing evening, when I ventured to leave the thick- 
et, and return to the high road, the bearing of 
which it was impossible for me to ascertain, on ac- 
count of the dense clouds that obscured the heavens. 
All that could be done in my situation, was to take 
care not to follow that end of the road which had 
led me to the swamp. Turning my back once 
more upon Milledgeville, and walking at a quick 
pace, every effort was made to remove myself, as 
far as possible this night, from the scene of suffering, 
for which that swamp will be always memorable in 
my mind. 

The rain had ceased to fall at the going down of 
the sun ; and the darkness of this second niglit, was 
not so srreat as that of the first had been. This cir- 
cumstance was regarded by me, as a happy presage 
of the final success that awaited my undertaking. 
Events proved that I was no prophet ; for the dim 
light of this night, was the cause of the dreaful mis- 
fortune that awaited me. 

In a former part of this volume, the reader is 
made acquainied with the deep interest that is taken 
by all the planters, far and wide, around the plan- 
tation from which a slave has escaped, by running 
away. Tv^^enty years had wrought no change in 
favour of the fugitive; nor had the feuds anddissen- 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 495 

sions, that agitate and distract the communities of 
white men, produced any relaxation in the friend- 
ship that they profess to feel, and really do feel, for 
each other, on a question of so much importance to 
them all. 

More than twenty miles of road had been left be- 
hind me this nii^ht ; and it must have been two or 
three o'clock in the morning-, when, as I was passing 
a part of the road that led through a dense pine 
grove, where the trees on either side grew close to 
the wheel tracks, five or^six men suddenly rushed 
upon me, from both sides of the road, and with loud 
cries of "Kill him! kill him!" accompanied with 
oaths and opprobrious languafj^e, seized me, dragged 
me to the ground, and bound me fast with a long 
cord, which was wrapped round my arms and body, 
so as to confine my hands below my hips. 

In this condition, I was driven, or rather dragged, 
about two mil<^- to a kind of tavern or public house, 
that stood by the side of the road ; where my captors 
were joined, soon after daylight, by at least twenty 
of their companions, who had been out all night 
waiting and watching for me, on the other roads of 
this part of the country. Those who had taken me 
were loudly applauded by their fellows ; and the 
whole party passed the morning in drinking, sing- 
ing songs, and playing cards, at this house. At 
breakfast time, they gave me a large cake of corn 
bread, and some sour milk, for breakfast. 

About ten o'clock in the morning, my master ar- 
rived at the tavern, in company with two or three 



496 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Other gentlemen, all strangers to me. My master, 
when he came into my presence, looked at me, and 
said, " Well, Charles, you had bad luck in running 
away this time;" and immediately asked aloud, 
what any person would give for me. One man, 
who was slightly intoxicated, said he would give 
four hundred dollars for me. Other bids followed, 
until my price v;as soon up to five hundred and 
eighty dollars, for which I was stricken oft', by my 
master himself, to a gentleman, who immediately 
gave his note for me, and took charge of me as his 
property. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

The name of my new master was Jones, a plan- 
ter who was only a visiter in this part of the coun- 
try ; his residence being about fifty miles down the 
country. The next day, my new master set off* 
with me to the place of his residence; permitting me 
to wa k b. hind him, as he rode on horseback, and 
leavii'g me entirely unshackled. I was resolved, 
that as my own-r treated me with so much liberal- 
ity, the trust he reposed in me should not be broken 
until after we had reached his home: though the 
determination of again running away, and attempt- 
ing to escapa from Georgia, never abandoned me for 
a mo men:. 

The country through which we passed, on our 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 497 

journey, was not rich. The soil was sandy, light, 
ancl in many places, much exhausted by excessive 
tillage. The timber, in the woods where the ground 
was high, was almost exclusively pine ; but many 
swamps, and extensive tracts 'of low ground inter- 
vened, in which maple, gum, and all the other trees 
common to such land in the south, abounded. 

No improvement in the condition of the slaves on 
the plantations, was here perceptible; but it ap- 
peared to me, that there was now even a greater 
want of good clothes, amongst the slaves on the 
various plantations that we passed, than had existed 
twenty years before. Everywhere, the overseers 
still kepi up the same custom of walking in the fields 
^Vith the long whip, that has been elsewhere de- 
scribed ; and everywhere, the slaves proved, by the 
husky appearance of their skins, and the dry, sun- 
burnt aspect of ilicir hair, that they were strangers 
to animal food. 

On the second day of our journey, in the evening, 
wc arrived at the residence of my master; about 
erglity miles from Savannah. The plantation, which 
had now become the place of my residence, was not 
large : containing only about three hundred acres of 
cleared land, and having on it, about thirty working 
slaves of all classes. 

It was now the very midst of the season of pick- 
ing cotton, and, at the end of twenty years from 
the time of my first flight, I again had a daily task 
assigned me, with the promise of half a cent a pound, 
for all the cotton I should pick, beyond my day's 
42* 



498 NARRATIVE OF THE 

work. Picking cotton, like every other occupation 
requiring active rnanijDulation, depends more upon 
sleiglit, than strength ; and I was not now evble to 
pick so niUv^h in a day, as I was once able to do. 

My master seemed to be a man ardently bent on 
the acquisition of wealth, and came into the field, 
where we were at work, almost every day ; frequent- 
ly remonstrating, in strong language, with the 
overseer, l:>ecause he did not get more work done. 

Our rations, on this place, were a half peck of 
corn per week; in addition to which, we had rather 
more than a peck of sweet potatoes allowed to each 
person. 

Our provisions were distributed to us on every 
Sunday morning by the overseer ; but my master 
was generally present, either to see that justice was 
done to us, or that injustice was not done to 
himself. 

When I had been here about a week, my master 
came into the field one day, and, in passing near 
me, stopped and told me, that I had now fallen in- 
to good hands, as it was his practice not to whip his 
people much. That he, in truth, never whipped 
them, nor suffered his overseer to whip them, except 
in i'agrant cases. Thai he had discovered a mode 
of punishment much more mild, and, at the same 
time, much more effectual, than flogging; and that 
he governed his negroes exclusively under this mode 
of discipline. He then told me, that when I came 
home in the evening, I must come to the house; and 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 499 

Ihar lie Avould then make nie acquainted with the 
principles upon which he chastised his slaves. 

Going to the house in the ever.ing, according to 
orders, my master showed me a pump, set in a well 
in which the water rose witiiiri ten feet of the sur- 
face of the ground. The spout of this pump, was 
elevated at least thirteen feet above the earth, and 
wh(Mi the water was to he drawn from it, the persoQ 
who worked the handle ascended by a ladder to the 
proper station. The wafer in tliis well, although so 
near the surface, was very cold; and the pump dis- 
charLTcd it in a large stream One of the women 
employed in the house, had committed some oifence 
for which she was to be punished ; and the opportuni- 
ty was endjracod of evhibiting to me, the eifect of this 
novel mode of torture upon the human fran)e. The 
woman was slrippcd (jiiite naked, and lied to a post 
that stood just ur.(i(M- the stream of water, as it fell 
from the spout of I lie pump. A lad was then ordered 
to ascend the ladder, and pumj) water upon the head 
and shoulders of the victim ; who had not been un- 
der the watei fall more than a nunute, before slie be- 
gan to cry and scream in a most lamentable m;in- 
ner. In a short time, she exeited her strength, in 
the most convulsive throes, in trying to escape from 
the post ; but as the cords were strong, this was im- 
possible. After another minute or a little more, her 
cries became weaker, and soon afterwards her head 
fell forward upon her breast ; and then the boy was 
ordered to cease pumping the water. The woman 
was removed in a state of insensibility ; but recovered 



500 NARRATIVE OF THE 

her faculties in about an hour. The next morning 
she complained of Hghtness of head ; but was able 
to go to work. 

Ttiis punishment of the pump, as it is called, was 
never inflicted on me ; and 1 am only able to describe 
it, as it has been described to me, by those who have 
endured it. 

When the water first strikes the head and arms, 
it is not at all painful ; but in a very short time, it 
produces the sensation tbat is felt when heavy blows 
are inflicted with large rods, of the size of a man's 
finger. This perception becomes more and more 
painful, until the skull bone and shoulder blades ap- 
pear tojje broken in pieces. Finally, all the faculties 
become oppressed ; breathing becomes more and more 
diflficult ; until the eye-sight becomes dim, and ani- 
mation ceases. This punishment is in fact a tem- 
porary murder ; as all the pains are endured, that 
can be felt by a person who is deprived of life by be- 
ing beaten with bludgeons; — but after the punish- 
ment of the pump, the sufferer is restored to existence 
by being laid in a bed, and covered with warm 
clothes. A giddiness of the head^ and oppression of the 
breast, follows this operation, for a day or two, and 
sometimes longer. The object of calling me to be a 
witness of this new mode of torture, doubtlessly, was 
to intimidate me from running away ; but like me- 
dicines administered by empirics, the spectacle had 
precisely the opposite effect, from that which it was 
expected to produce. 

After my arrival on this estate, my intention had 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 501 

been to defer my elopement until tlie next year, be- 
fore I had seen the torture inflicted on this unfor- 
tunate woman : hut from that moment my resolu- 
tion was unalterably fixed, to escape as quickly as 
l)ossihle. Such was my desperation of feeling, at 
this time, that I deliberated seriously upon the pro- 
ject of endeavouring to make my way southward, 
for the purpose of joining the Indians in Florida. 
I'ortune reserved a more agreeable fate for me. 

On the Saturday nighl after the won)an was pun- 
ished at the pump, 1 stole a yardof colL«>n bagging 
from the cotton-gin hou«;c, and converted it into a 
b.'JLT, l)y means of a coarse needle and tliicad that I 
borrowed of one of the hiack women. On jhe next 
niorninir, when our weekly rations were distributed 
to iH, my poiiion was carefiilly \)\iicri\ m mv bag, 
under pieicnce of fears that it would be stolen from 
nx', if it was left op. n in (be loft of the kitchen that 
I loil'jt'd in. 

This day being Sunday, I did not go to the field 
to work as usual, on that day, but under pretence of 
being unwell, remained in the kitchen all day, to be 
the better prepared for the toils of the folhjwing 
night. After daylight had totally disappeared, ta- 
king my bag under my arm, nnder pretence of going 
to the mill to grind my corn, I stole softly across the 
cotton fields to the nearest wo ds, and taking an ob- 
servation of the stars, directed my course to the east- 
w\ard, resolved that in no event should any tliino* 
induce me to travel a single yard, on the high road, 
until at least one hundred miles from this plantation. 



502 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Keeping on steadi y through the whole of this 
night, and meeting with no swamps, or briery thick- 
ets in my way, I have no doubt that before day- 
hght, the plantation was more than thirty miles be- 
hind me. 

Twenty years before this, I had been in Savan- 
nah, and note I at that time that great numbers of 
ships were in that port, taking in loading of cotton. 
My plan now was to reach Savannah, in the best 
w^ay I could, by some means to be devised after my 
arrival in the city, to procure a passage to some of 
the northern cities. 

When day appeared before me, I wns in a large 
cotton field, and before the woods could be reached, 
it was gray dawn ; but the forest bordering on the 
field was large and afforded me good shelter through 
the day, under the cover of a large thicket of swamp 
laurel, that lay at the distance of a quarter of a mile 
from the field. It now became necessary to kindle a 
fire, for all my stock of provisions, consisting of corn 
and potatoes, was raw and undressed. Less fortunate 
now than in my former fiight, no fire apparatus was 
in my possession, and driven at last to the extremity, I 
determined to endeavour to produce fire by rubbing 
two sticks together, and spent at least two hours of 
incessant toil, in this vain operation, without the least 
prospect of success. Abandoning this project at 
length, I turned my thoughts to searching for a stone 
of some kind, with which to endeavour to extract 
fire from an old jack knife, that had been my com- 
panion in Maryland for more than three years. My 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 503 

labours were fruitless. No stone could be found in 
tins .swamp; and the day was passed in anxiety and 
iuinger, a few raw potatoes being my only food. 

Night at length came, and with it a renewal of 
my travelling labours. Avoiding with the utmost 
care, every appearance of a road, and pursuing my 
way until dayhght, I must have travelled at least 
thirty miles this night. Awhile before day, in cros- 
smg a field, I fortunately came upon a bed of large 
pebbles, on the side of a hill. Several cf these were 
deposited in my bag, which enabled me when day 
arrived to procure fire, with which I parched corn 
and roasted potatoes suflficient to subsist me for tw^o or 
ihree days. On the fourth night of my journey, 
fortune directed me to a broad, open highway, that 
appeared to be much travelled. 

Near the side of this road, 1 established my quar- 
ters fur the day in a thick pine wood, for the purpose 
of making observations upon the people who tra- 
velled it, and of judging thence of the part of the 
country to which ii led. 

Soon after daylight, a wagon passed along, drawn 
by oxen, and loaded with bales of cotton; then fol- 
lowed some white men on horseback, and soon after 
sunrise, a w hole train of wagons and carts, all load- 
ed with bales of cotton, passed by, following the wa- 
gon first seen by me. In the course of the day, at 
least one hundred wagons and carts passed along 
this road, towards the south-east, all laden with cot- 
ton bales; and at least an equal number came to- 
wards the west, either laden with casks of various 



504 NARRATIVE OF THE 

dimensions, or entirely empty. Numerous horse- 
men, many carriages, and great numbers of persons 
on foot, also passed to and fro on this road, in the 
course of the day. 

All these indications satisfied me, that I must be 
near some large town, the seat of an extensive cot- 
ton market. The next consideration with me was 
to know how far it was to this towm, for which pur- 
pose I determined to travel on the road, the succeed- 
ing nigh!. 

Lying in the woods, until about eleven o'clock, I 
rose, came to the road, and travelled it until within 
an hour of daylight, at wdiich time the country 
around me appeared almost wholly clear of timber; 
and houses became much more numerous than they 
had been in the former part of my journey. 

Things continued to wear this aspect until day- 
light, when I stopped, and sat down by the side of 
a high fence that stood beside the road. After re- 
maining here a short time, a w agon laden with cot- 
ton, passed along, drawn by oxen, whose driver, a 
black man, asked me if I was going towards town. 
Being answered in the affirmative, he then asked me 
if I did not wish to ride in his wagon. I told him 
I had been out of town all night, and should be very 
thankful to him for a ride; at the same time ascend- 
ing his wagon and placing myself in a secure and 
easy posi ion, on the bags of cotton. 

In tiiis manner we travelled on fjr abaut two hours', 
when w^e entered the (own of Savannah. In my 
situation there was no danger of any one suspecting 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 505 

me to be a runaway slave; for no runaway had ever 
been known to llee from the country, and seek re- 
fuge in Savannah. 

The man who drove the wagon, passed through 
several of the principal streets of the city, and stopped 
his teain before a large warehouse, standing on a 
wharf, looking into the river. Here 1 assisted my 
new friend to unload hi< cotton and when wc were 
done, h.' invited me to share his breakfast with him, 
consisting of corn bread, roasted potatoes, and some 
cold b')iled rice. 

Whilst wc were at our breakfast, a black man 
came along the |^eet, and asked us if we knew 
wlicre he could hire a hand, to help him to work a 
day or two. I at once replied that my master had 
sent me to town, to hire myself out for a few weeks, 
and that I was ready to go with hi.n immediately. 
The j )y I felt at finding employment, so overcame 
me, that all thought of my wages was forgotten. 
Bidding farewell to the man who had given me 
my breakfast, and thanking him in my heart for his 
kindness, I followed my new employer, who inform- 
ed me that he had engaged to remove a thousand 
bale? of c3Uon from a large warehoine, to the end 
of a wharf at which a ship lay, that was taking in 
the cotton as a load. 

This man was a slave, but hir3d his time of his 
master at tu'o hundred and fifty dollars a year, which 
he said he pail in monthly instalments. He did 
what he called job work, which consisted of under- 
taking jobs, and hiring men to work under him, if 
43 



506 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the job was too great to be pei formed by himself. 
In the present mstance he had seven or eight black 
men, beside me, all hired to help him to remove the 
cotton in wheel-barrows, and lay it near the end of 
the wharf, when it was taken up by sailors and car- 
ried on board the ship, that was receiving it. 

We continued working hard all day; and amongst 
the crew of the ship was a black man, with whom 1 
resolved to become acquainted by some m^aiis. Ac- 
cordingly at night, after we had quit our work, I 
went to the end of the wharf against which the ship 
lay moored, and stood there a long time, waiting for 
the black sailor to niake his appearance on deck. 
At length my desires were gratified. He came upon 
the deck, and sat down near the main-mast, with a 
pipe in his mouth, which he was smoking with great 
apparent pleasure. After a few minutes, I spoke to 
him, for he had not yet seen me, as it appeared, and 
when he heard my voice, he rose up and came to the 
side of the ship near where I stood. We entered in- 
to conversation together, in the course of which he 
informed me that his home was in New- York; that 
he had a wife and several children there, but that he 
followed the sea for a livehhood, and knew no other 
mode of hfe. He also asked me where my master 
lived, and if Georgia had always been the place of 
my residence. 

I deemed this a favourable opportunity of effecting 
the object I had in view, in seeking the acquaintance 
of this man, and told him at once that by law and 
justice I was a free man. but had been kidnapped 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 507 

near Baltimore, forcibly brought to Georgia, and sold 
there as a slave. That I was now a fugitive from 
my master, and in search of some means of getting 
back to my wife and children. 

The n-^an seemed moved by the account of my suf- 
ferings, and at the close of my narrative, told me he 
could not receive me on board the ship, as the captain 
had given positive orders to him, not to let any of the 
negroes of Savannah come on board, lest they should 
steal sometliing belonging to the ship. He further 
told me tliat he was on watch, and should continue 
on deck two hours. That he was forced to take 
a turn of watching the ship every night, for two 
hours; but tliat his turn would not couie the next 
niglit until after midnight. 

I now begged him to enable me to secrete myself 
on board the ship, previous to tlic time of her sailing, 
so that I uiight be conveyed to Philadelphia, whi- 
th(,'r th«'. ship was bound with her load of cotton. 
He at lirst received my application w^ith great cold- 
ness, and said he would not do any thing contrary 
to the orders of the captain ; bnt before we parted, he 
said lie should be glad to assist me if he could, but 
that the excution of the plan proposed by me, would 
be attended with great dangers, if not ruin. 

In my situation there was nothing too hazardous 
for me to undertake, and I informed him that if he 
would let me hide myself in the hold of the ship, 
amongst the bags of cotton, no one should ever 
know that he had any knowledge of the fact; and that 
all the danger, and all the disasters that might attend 



508 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the affair, should fall exclusively on me. He final- 
ly told me to go away, and ihat he would think of 
the matter until the next day. 

It was obvious that his heart was softened in my 
favour ; that his feelings of compassion almost im- 
pelled him to do an act in my behalf, that was for- 
bidden by his judgment, and his sense of duty to 
his employers. As the houses of the city were now 
closed, and I was a stranger in tlie place, I went to 
a wagon that stood in front of the warehouse, and 
had been unladen of the cotton that had been brought 
in it, and creeping into it, made my bed with the 
driver, who permitted me to sliare his lodgings 
amongst some corn tops, that he had brought to feed 
his oxen. 

When the morning came, I went again to the ship^ 
and when the people came on deck, asked them for 
the captain, whom I should not have known by his 
dress, which was very nearly similar to that of the 
sailors. On being asked if he did not wish to hire a 
hand, to help to load his ship, he told me 1 might go 
to w^ork amongst the men, if I chose, and he would 
pay me what I was worth. 

My object was to procure employment on board 
the ship, and not to get wages; and in the course of 
this day I found means to enter the hold of the ship 
several times, and examine it minutely. The black 
sailor promised that he w^ould not betray me, and 
that if T could find the means of escaping on board 
the ship he would not disclose it. 

At the end of three days, the ship had taken in 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 509 

her loadinir, and the captain said in my presence, 
that he intended to sail the day after. No time was 
now to be lost, and asking the captain what he 
thou^lit I had earned, he ^ave me three dollars, 
which was certainly very liberal pay, considering 
tliat during the whole time that I had worked for 
hun, my fore had been the same as that of the sai- 
lors, who had as much as they could consume, of 
excellent food. 

The sailors were now busy in trimming the ship, 
and making ready for sea, and observing, that this 
work required them to spend much time in the hold 
of the ship, I went to the captain and told him, that 
as lie had paid me good wages, and treated me well, 
I would work with his people, the residue ofthis day, 
for my victuals and half a gallon of molasses: which 
lie said he would give me. My first object now, was 
to get into the holtl of the ship with those who were 
adjusting the cargo. The first time the men below 
called for aid, I went to them, and being there, took 
care to remain with them. Being placed at one side 
of the hold, for the purpose of packing the bags close 
to the ship's timbers, I so managed, as to leave a 
space between two of the bags, large enough for a 
man to creep in, and conceal himself. This cavity 
was near the opening in the centre of the hold, that 
was left to let men get down, to stow away the last 
of the bags that were put in. In this small hollow 
retreat amongst the bags of cotton, I determined to 
take my passage to Philadelphia, if by any means 
1 could succeed in steahng on board the ship at nicrht 
43* ° • 



510 NARRATIVE OF THE 

When the evening came, I went to a store near 
the wharf, and bought two jugs, one that held half 
a gallon, and the other, a large stone jug. holding 
more than three gallons. When it was dark, I filled 
my large jug with water; purchased twenty pounds 
of pilot bread at a bakery, which I tied in a large 
handkerchief; and taking my jugs in my hand, went 
on board the ship to receive my molasses of the cap- 
tain, for the labour of the day. The captain was 
not on board, and a boy gave me the molasses ; but, 
under pretence of waiting to see the captain, I sat 
down between two rows of cotton bales, that were 
stowtd on deck. The night was very dark, and, 
watching a favourable opportunity, vvhen the man 
on deck had gone forward,! succeeded in placing both 
my jugs upon the bags uf cotton that rcse in the 
hold, almost to the deck. In another moment, I 
glided down amongst the cargo ; and lost no time in 
placing my jugs in the place provided for them, 
amongst the bales of cotton, beside the lair provided 
for myself. 

Soon after I had taken my station for the voyage, 
the captain came on board, and the boy reported to 
him, that he had paid me olT, and dismissed me. 
In a short time, all was quiet on board the ship, ex- 
cept the occasional tread of the Uian on watch. I 
slept none at all this night; the anxiety that oppres- 
sed me, preventing me from taking any repose. 

Before day the captain was on deck, and gave or^ 
ders to tl^.e seamen, to clear the ship for sailing, and 
to be ready to descend the river with the ebb tide, 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 511 

which was expected to flow at sunn.se. I felt the 
motion of the ship when she got under weigh, and 
thought the time long before I heard the breakers of 
the ocean surging against her sides. 

In the place where I lay, when the hatches were 
closed, total darkness prevailed ; and I had no idea 
of the lapse of innc, or of the progress we made, un- 
til, having at one period crept out into the open space, 
between the rows of cotton bags, which I have be- 
fore described, I heard a man, Avho appeared from 
the sound of his voice to be slandino- on the hatch, 
call out and say, '-That is Cape llalleras." I had 
already come out of my covert, several times, into the 
open space; but tiie hatches were closed so tightly, 
as to exchide all light. It appeared to mc that we 
Iiad already been at sea a long time ; but as darkness 
was unbro'<en with me, I could not make any com- 
putation of periods. 

Soon after this, the hatch was opened, and the 
light was let into tlic hold. A man descended for the 
purpose of examining the state of the cargo ; who re- 
turned ii^a short time. The hatch was again clos- 
ed ; and nothing of moment occurred from this time, 
until 1 heard and felt the ship strike against some 
solid body. In a short time I heard much noise, 
and a multitude of sounds of various kinds. All this 
satislied me, that the ship was in some port ; for I no 
longer heard the sound of the waves, nor perceived 
the least motion in the ship. 

At length the hatch was again opened, and the 
light was let in upon me. My anxiety now was, to 



512 NARRATIVE OF THE 

escape fromthe ship, without being discovered by any- 
one ; to accomplish which I determined to issue from 
the hold as soon as night came on, if possible. Wait- 
ing until sometime after daylight had disappeared. 
I ventured to creep to the hatchway, and raise my 
head above deck. Seeing no one on beard, I crawled 
out of the hold, and stepped on board a ship that lay 
alongside of that in which 1 had ccme a passenger. 
Here a man seized me, and called me a thief, say- 
ing I had come to rob his ship ; and it was w ith much 
difficulty that I prevailed upon him to let me go. He 
at length permitted me to go on the wharf; and I 
once more felt myself a freeman. 

I did not know what city 1 was in ; but as the 
sailors had all told me, at Savannah, that their ship 
was bound to Philadelphia, I liad no doubt of being 
in that city. In going along (he street, a black man 
met me, and I asked liim if I was in Philadelphia. 
This question caused the stranger to laugh loudly : 
and he passed on without giving me any answer. 
Soon afterwards I met an old gentleman, with drab 
clothes on, as I could see by the light of tj^e lamps. 
To him I propounded the same question, that had 
been addressed a few moments before to the black 
man. This time, however, I received a civil answer : 
being told that I was in Philadelphia. 

This gentleman seemed concerned for me, either 
because of my wretched and ragged appearance, or 
because I was a stranger, and did not know where 
1 was. Whether for the one cause or the other, I 
know not ; but he told me to follow him, and led me 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 513 

to the house of a black man, not far olT, whom he 
directed lo take care of me until tlie morning. In 
this house I was kindly entertained all night, and 
when the morning came, the old gentleman in drab 
clothes returned, and brought with him an entire 
suit of clothes, not more than half worn, of which 
he made me a present, and gave me money to buy 
a hat and sonie muslin for a couple of shirts. He 
then turned to go away, and said, " I perceive that 
thee is a slave, and has run away from thy master. 
Thee can now go to work for thy living ; but take 
care that (hey do not catcli thee again. " I then told 
him, I hat I had been a slave, and had twice run 
away and escaped from ihe state of Georgia. The 
jrenilcman seemed a little incredulous of that which 
I t<.M him: hut v hm I explaiix'd to him the cause 
of the condition in which he found me, he seemed to 
beconn; more than ever interested in my fate. This 
ij;enlleman, whose name 1 >Iiall not publish, has 
always been a kind friend to M>e. 

After remaining in Philadelphia a few weeks, I 
resolved to return to my little flnin in Maryland, for 
the purpose of selling my property lor as much as it 
would produce, and of bringing my wife and children 
to Pennsylvania. 

On arriving in Baltimore. I went to a tavern keep- 
er, whom I had formerly supplied with vegetables 
from my garden. This man appeared greatly sur- 
prised to see me ; and asked me how 1 had managed 
to escape from my master in Georgia. I told him, 
that the man who had taken me to Georgia was not 



514 NARRATIVE OF THE 

my master ; but had kidnapped me, and carried me 
away by violence. The tavern keeper then told me, 
that I had better leave Baltimore as soon as possible, 
and showed me a hand-bill that was stuck up against 
the wall of his bar-room, in which a hundred and 
fifty dollars reward was offered for my apprehension. 
I immediately left this house, and fled from Baltimore 
that very night. 

When I reached my former residence, I found a 
white man living in it, whom I did not know. This 
man, on being questioned by me, as to the time he 
had owned this place, and the manner in which he 
had obtained possession, informed me, that a black 
man had formerly lived here; but he w^as a runaway 
slave, and his master had come, the sumn:er before, 
and carried him off. That the wife of the former 
owner of Llie house, was also a slave; and that her 
master had come about six weeks before the present 
time, and taken licr and her children, and sold them 
in Baltimore to a slave-dealer from the south. 

This man also inforincd me, that he was not in 
this neighbourhood at the time the woman and her 
children were carried away ; but that he had received 
his information from a black woir.an, whohved half 
a mile off. 

This black woman I was w^e-l acquainted with; 
she had been my neighbour, and I knew her to be 
my friend. She had been set free, some years be- 
fore by a gentleiY)an of this neighbourhood, and re- 
sided under his protection, on a part of his land. I 
immediately went to the house of this woman, who 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 515 

could scarcely believe the evidence of her own eyes, 
wh.n she saw me enter her door. The first words 
s he spoke to ,ne wenp, '' Lucy and her children have 
all been stolen away/' At my request, she gave me 
the fullowin- account of the manner in which my 
wife and children, all of whom had been free from 
their birth, were seized and driven into southern 
slavery. 

'^ A few weeks," said she, ^' after they took you 
away, and before Lucy had so far recovered from the 
terror produred by that event, as to remain in her 

house all n.L,n.t u lib hrr children, without some other 
co:np:my, I went one evening- to stay all night with 
her; a kindness that I always rendered her, if no 
other person came to remain with her. 

'' It was late when we went to bed, perhaps eleven 
o clock ; aiul after we had been asleep some time, we 
were awakened by a k.ud rap at the door. At first 
we said nothinir; but upon the rap being several 
times repealed, Lucy asked who was there. She 
was then told, in a voice that seeiued by its sound 
to be tiiat of a woman, to get up and open the door ; 
adding, that the person without had something to tell 
her that she wished to hear. Lucy, supposing the 
voice to be that of a black woman, the slave of a 
lady living near, rose and opened the door; but, to 
our astonishment, instead of a woman coming 'in, 
four or five men rushed into the house, and imme- 
diately closed the door; at which one of the men 
stood, with his back against it, until the others made 
a light in the fire place, and proceeded deliberately 



516 NARRATIVE OP THE 

to tie Lucy with a rope. Search was then made in 
the bed for the children ; and I was found, and drag- 
ged out. This seemed to procjiice some consterna- 
tion amongst tlie captors, wliose faces were all black, 
but whose hair and visages were those of white ir.en. 
A consultation was held amongst them, the object 
of which was to determine whether 1 should also be 
taken along witli Lucy and the children, or be left 
behind, on account of the interest which my master 
was supposed to feel for me. 

" It was finally agreed, that as it would be very 
dangerous to carry me off, lest my old master should 
cause pursuit (o be made after them, they would 
leave me behind, and take only Lucy and the chil- 
dren. One of the number then said it would not do 
to leave n:e behind, and at liberty, as I would im- 
mediately go and give intelligence of what I had 
seen ; and if the afiair should be discovered by the 
members of the abohtion society, before they had time 
to get out of Maryland, they would certainly be detec- 
ted and punished for the crimes they were commit- 
ting. 

" It was finally resolved to tie me with cords, to 
one of the logs of the housegag me by tying a rope 
in my mouth, and confining it closely at the back of 
my neck. They immediately confined me, and 
then took the children frotr. the bed. The oldest 
boy they tied to his mother, and compelled them to 
go out of the house together. The three youngest 
children were then taken out of bed, and carried 
off in the hands of the men who had tied me to the 



ADVENTURES OF CHARLES BALL. 517 

log. I never saw nor heard any more of Lucy or 
her children. 

''For myself, I remained in the house, the door of 
which was carefully closed, and fastened after it 
was shut, until the second night after my confme- 
ment, without any tiling to eat or drink. On the 
second nifrht some unknown persons came and cut 
the cords that biKind nic, when I returned to my 
own cabin." 

This intelligence almost deprived me of Ufe ; it 
was the most dreadful of all the misfortunes that I 
had ever sulTered. It was now clear that some 
slave-dealer had come in my absence, and seized my 
wife and children as slaves, and sold them to such 
men as T had served in the south. They had now 
passed into hopeless bondage, and were gone forever 
beyond my reach. I myself was advertised as a fu- 
gitive slave, and was liable to be arrested at each 
moment, and dragged back to Georgia. I rushed 
out of n^y own house in despair and returned to 
Pennsylvania with a broken heart. 

For the last few years, I have resided about fifty 
miles from Philadelphia, where I expect to pass the 
evening of my life, in working hard for my subsist- 
ence, without the least hope of ever again seeing my 
wife and children : — fearful, at this day, to let my 
place of residence be known, lest even yet it may 
be supposed, that as an article of property, I am of 
Bufl&cieut value to be worth pursuing in ray old age, 

THE END. 

44 



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